Suffer Little Children
by Tracy2
Summary: Steve has to work with a new partner on a difficult child abuse case. How will she fit in with the way he works and with his friends? **STORY COMPLETE** Please R & R, this is my first story, and let me know what you think, thanks.
1. Monday

**Suffer Little Children**

**By Tracy Wood**

Certificate 17 – Graphic Sexual Content – also the story is about Child Abuse, which is a deeply upsetting subject.

Disclaimer: This is fan-fiction, written for enjoyment and no profit will be made from it. The main characters of Mark, Steve, Amanda, and Jesse, as well as Cheryl, CJ, Dion, Alex and Chief Masters are from the series Diagnosis Murder, and as such are property of CBS/Viacom . The other characters, especially Reagan Yeager, her family and Martin Robertson are mine.

I hope that you enjoy this, please let me know what you think in the review section.

  
  
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**Monday**

Steve sat in his chair, midway through a Monday morning, trying not to look at all the filing and paperwork that was piled up on his desk, and on Cheryl's desk next to it. There was nothing for it, if the phone didn't ring in the next five minutes he would have to get down to it.

"Hey, Sloan," a voice yelled out, breaking into his thoughts. "The Chief wants to see you, now!"

Steve got slowly to his feet. It was a toss up, which would he rather do, paperwork or see the Chief? Nope, he couldn't decide. With a half smile on his face, he crossed the room and headed to the privacy of his boss's office.

"Ah Lt., Sloan, there you are." Chief Masters said, almost smiling. "Please sit down."

As he did so, Steve noticed a young woman sitting in the other chair. She was small, with dark brown hair and eyes. She seemed extremely confident and completely at ease at the same time.

"This is Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, she is on secondment from London, while Cheryl is working for Scotland Yard. Reagan, this is Lieutenant Steve Sloan," explained the Chief.

Reagan got to her feet and said, "Hi, I'm really pleased to meet you, but nobody calls me Reagan, please call me Rae."

Steve held out his hand and smiled at her, "I'm pleased to meet you too, Rae, I'm Steve".

"You'll be working together for at least the next six months, so I suggest that you get to know each other a little better, and Lieutenant, try to find her some space on Cheryl's desk!" said the Chief with a raise of his eyebrows.

Steve started, a little sheepishly, to reply, but then thought better of it. He opened the door, and ushered Rae through it.

"Oh boy! He wasn't joking was he?" said Rae, as she looked at Cheryl's desk.

"The Chief never jokes." Steve replied. "And it's not too bad, it's been worse than this," he added defensively.

Rae was just about to reply, when Steve's cell phone rang. 

"Sloan here, Oh, hi, Amanda, what's up?" Steve's face turned from a welcoming smile to a hard stare in an instant. "I'll be right over."

Steve grabbed his jacket and was half way across the squad room before he realised that Rae was still standing by his desk. "Rae, come on!" He shouted without breaking his stride. Rae shrugged her shoulders, turned around and followed her new partner out of the building.

As they headed across town in Steve's car, he filled Rae in on the phone call he had received.

"That was Dr. Amanda Bentley, she is a county pathologist and works at Community General. She just called in a suspicious death. Probable child abuse."

Rae gasped. "No wonder you looked grim. How old was the child?"

"Nine, and female. Listen; there are a few things that you should know about Community General, and about me. My father, Dr. Mark Sloan, is the Head of Internal Medicine there and also a police consultant. Amanda is one of my closest friends, and then there is Jesse."

"Jessie? Who's she?"

"He, Jesse is male," said Steve, trying not to laugh.

"Oh sorry, most Jessie's in England are female, or a famous postman's cat," said Rae; "Thank goodness I didn't say that to his face. Sorry, anyway, you were saying, then there is Jesse".

"Yeah, well Jesse, he's my best friend, and also my partner, along with my father, in a barbeque restaurant I own, BBQ Bob's. I'm sure you'll be eating there before the week is out. The three of them tend to tag along on a lot of my cases."

"Tag along? As in help you out!" Rae asked incredulously.

"Oh look, here we are," said Steve quickly, parking in the doctor's parking lot. He got out of the car and started round to open Rae's door, but found she was already out of the car. 

"Oh sorry," said Rae, realising what he was going to do. "I'm not used to working with gentlemen."

Amanda was in her hygienically tidy domain when Steve and Rae entered the room. She looked up with a smile at Steve, although he could see that her eyes were sad. 

"Hi Amanda, this is Reagan Yeager, she's Cheryl's replacement from London, you remember they're both part of this job swap thing."

Rae held out her hand to the beautiful young woman in front of her, and said, "Hi, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, please, call me Rae, everybody else does."

"What have you got Amanda?" Steve asked, getting down to business, now that the introductions were over. 

"Let me just page Jesse, he was her attending physician, and then we can fill you in." Amanda went over to her desk and the two detectives heard the call go out for Dr. Travis.

A couple of minutes later Jesse entered the room. He too looked a little subdued, not his normal bouncy self. Steve knew everybody hated child abuse cases, and when it ended up in murder – well, there weren't really any words to describe how they felt.

"Hey Steve, I'm glad Amanda got through to you. Oh hi, I'm Dr. Jesse Travis, are you from Child Welfare?"

Rae smiled at the tousle haired young doctor, who wasn't that much taller than she was. _He has kind eyes and a lovely smile_ she thought, and then mentally shook herself. _Down girl, concentrate_. "No, I'm Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, from Scotland Yard. I'm job swapping with Cheryl."

"Reagan, wow, that's a very American name."

"Yeah, horrid isn't it? My Mum thought he was a great film star. Still, could have been worse, she could have called me Ronald; even though I wasn't the boy she wanted. Anyway everybody calls me Rae."

"Ah, could we get on with the matter at hand please people?" said Amanda; bringing everybody back to the reason they were there. "The victim is a nine-year-old girl, I believe that she was strangled, but I don't know at the moment with what. It certainly wasn't something as substantial as a rope or a wire. The marks are quite faint compared to that, but she definitely died by strangulation." 

"Where was she found?" asked Steve, his face was like stone, and his voice was nothing like the friendly one Rae had heard only seconds before. Amanda checked her folder.

"The crossing lady found her partially hidden in an alley behind a dumpster on her way home from her morning duty at St. Mary's school, and called it in." Amanda went over to the small shape on the table and removed the sheet, letting them all see the body of a nine-year-old dark haired girl. Rae let out a gasp, put her hand over her mouth, mumbled something that sounded like excuse me, and rushed out of the room.

Steve, Jesse and Amanda looked at each other, and then Steve said, "Amanda, I'm sorry, I thought she was an experienced officer, I'll be right back." Steve hurried out into the corridor, and saw Rae leaning up against the wall, the movements of her back showing him that she was crying.

Steve put his hand on her shoulder, and to his surprise, she turned around and just for an instant rested her head on his shoulder. Then she seemed to get herself under control and started to pull herself together.

"I am so sorry Sir, please forgive me. If we go back into the morgue, I will explain to the three of you what the problem was, I don't want to have to go through it more than once."

Steve placed his hand on her arm and guided her back into the room. Amanda and Jesse both looked very concerned. Rae put her hand up before they could begin to speak, and took a deep breath.

"The reason I volunteered for this assignment to come to LA, and work with your police department, was because I came out of a rather nasty divorce about two years ago. I have three children, two boys and a girl. The two boys were both old enough to make their own choice about who they wanted to live with, and they decided to stay with their Dad. My daughter, Mara, is nine now and she wanted to live with me. The judge however, took a different view, he said she shouldn't be split up from her brothers, and that my job was far too dangerous, and had unpredictable hours, so Mara went to her Dad as well."

Rae opened her wallet and took a picture out. She handed it to Amanda who did a double take. She silently handed the picture over to Steve and Jesse.

"Now you can see why I reacted like I did. That little girl on the table looks like my Mara. I'm sorry. I promise you I've got a hold of myself now. It won't happen again."

Steve smiled at Rae and then turned to Jesse. "Amanda said you were this little girl's attending physician – Amanda what's her name, we can't keep calling her little girl."

"Hana Marlow, she is, was, nine years old. Her parents went home a couple of hours ago, they are both deeply upset, and wanted to break the news to her brother themselves.

"She last came in 9 weeks ago with a broken arm. It had been broken in two places and there were finger shaped bruises on the other arm." Said Jesse slowly. "I was concerned that she might have been abused and I asked her who had done this to her, she said that she was delivering papers for her brother, when two older boys grabbed her off her bike and stole the papers, they hurt her before they let her go."

"Apparently," said Amanda, "There had been a few attacks like this in the area, and as we had no proof otherwise there was nothing we could do, but the fingerprint bruises were adult size not child size. She said the boys were her brother's age, but he is only 14."

"Her Mum and Dad came in with her," said Jesse, "And they seemed real concerned. I questioned them as much as I could, but as far as I could see they were as horrified as we were."

Amanda touched Rae on the arm and then went back over to the body. She lowered the sheet a little more, and they could see that there were not only bruises, but also bite marks on the body. There were deep bruises on her shoulders and arms, but to Steve and Rae, if Amanda hadn't already told them, it wouldn't be immediately clear how she had died.

"Hana **was** strangled," repeated Amanda slowly. "I am not sure yet what was used, but it was some sort of ligature, if you look in the eyes you will see that there is petechial haemorrhages on the conjunctiva. This along with the petechial cephalad at the site of the choking leads to a cause of death - strangulation. There are no injuries on the body that would lead me to think that she didn't receive medical attention whenever she needed it, no broken bones that had been left to heal on their own. It is a mystery. She was definitely abused, but I would say that neither her parents nor her brother were guilty of abusing her."

Steve looked across at Rae, who still had a pained look on her face, but she was holding herself in check now. She still had hold of her daughter's photo, and she was turning it over and over in her hand as she listened to Amanda. Suddenly he saw her pull herself together some more and return to police mode. She turned to Jesse and Amanda and began to ask questions.

"Where did you say the body was found?

"In an alleyway just off the sidewalk on her normal journey to school." Amanda said looking down at her notes.

"When she came in the first time, was she scared of her Mum or Dad, did she seem anxious, or did she cower away from you?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Jesse took over.  "She held her mom's hand the whole time she was here, she was upset, and obviously in a lot of pain, but that was all. I even got a smile out of her before she went up to x-ray."

"What time of day did she come in? Was it a morning or evening paper round that she was doing? Did her brother see the attack? What sort of injuries did the other paper delivery children have after they had been attacked?" Rae was getting up a head of steam now.

"Whoa, whoa, one at a time!" Jesse stepped in front of Rae to break her tirade of questions. "Right, let me see. It was the afternoon; she helped her brother after she got home from school. He didn't see the attack; he got home from his half of the round and found her at home, crying in pain. I don't know what type of injuries the other children had, sorry." Jesse paused, smiled and then said "Was that all, or did I miss a question in there somewhere Detective?"

Rae smiled back, "No, that was it Doctor."

Suddenly the tannoy blared, "Doctor Travis to the ER, Doctor Travis to the ER."

"Sorry guys, I gotta go, Steve I'll catch you later at Bob's, Rae I hope to see you there too." And with that Jesse rushed back up to treat his next patient.

Rae watched him go, and found herself thinking about those eyes and that smile, he was cute, _stop it Rae, let him be,_ she pulled herself out of her imaginings and turned to face her partner and realised that he was speaking to her.

"… to see what he has to say about this, then we can head back to the station. It that's OK with you?"

Rae tried to cover up the blush she felt creep up her face, and got ready to admit that she hadn't been listening, but Steve was already striding off, she was getting left behind again. Waving a goodbye to Amanda, Rae set off after Steve as he headed toward the elevator.

As she leant against the elevator wall thinking over what had happened that morning Steve's cell phone rang. "Sloan here, no Jess we're still in the hospital, we'll be right up."

"Problem?" asked Rae as she looked at Steve. Or rather up at Steve, he was tall, probably what 6', 6'2", and she had a feeling she was going to enjoy working with him. The elevator stopped before Steve had a chance to answer and Rae saw the sign that said E.R.

"Jesse," Steve called out as he walked down the hall.

"I'm in Trauma 2 Steve, I'll be out in a minute." Rae could hear Jesse's voice; it sounded so different from when she had first met him. Now it was obvious who was in charge. He was giving orders, and instructions in a firm clear tone, and what's more everybody was doing just as he said. Suddenly a gurney with an unconscious man on it was wheeled out from what Rae correctly guessed was Trauma 2 and Jesse followed it, his face full of concern for his patient, and his hair even more tousled than before.

He walked slowly over to Steve and Rae and looking up at them stated in a flat voice, "That was George Marlow, he's Hana's Dad. He slit his wrists; I think we have got him stabilised, but it was touch and go for a while."

"His poor wife," said Rae, looking around to see if she could see her. "Is she here Dr. Travis?"

"Jesse please, and yes, she's sitting over there. She's wearing a yellow jersey."

Rae looked at Steve for a moment, and when he nodded his head she walked over to Hana's mother. "Excuse me Mrs Marlow, may I have a word with you?"

"Susan, my name is Susan." Rae smiled and sat down next to her. She took her ID out of her pocket and showed it to the grieving woman. 

"My partner, Lieutenant Sloan, and I are working on your daughter's case, I know this is a horrendous time for you, and I don't want to intrude, but would it be possible to come and visit you at home, maybe tomorrow, so we can talk about what happened to Hana?"

At the sound of her daughter's name, Susan Marlow's face crumpled and she began to sob silently. Slowly she composed herself, nodded and said "You could come at about 10.00am, my son will have gone to school by then." Rae seriously doubted that the boy would be at school tomorrow, but she smiled and said,

"That will be fine, we'll see you then, could you just jot your address down so we know where we're going?"

Susan took the piece of paper and pen that Rae offered her and wrote on it. She went to hand it back, then hesitated and wrote down her telephone number as well. Rae took the piece of paper, and motioned for Steve to join her.

"This is Lieutenant Sloan, he will be with me tomorrow." Steve held out his hand to Mrs Marlow, but she didn't seem to notice it. Slowly he took one of his cards out of his top pocket and handed it to Susan Marlow. 

"If you need to contact us in the meantime Mrs. Marlow, you can reach me on the numbers on this card."  Mrs Marlow just nodded. She was already back in her terrible nightmare, and Rae doubted whether she saw them leave, or if she had even realised that Steve had spoken. 

Jesse came over to them and motioned to Steve. "Mr. Marlow has been admitted in room 235, take it gently OK?"

Steve and Rae both nodded and walked down the corridor, Rae had no idea where she was going, she was just following her partner. Suddenly as if he realised this Steve turned to her with a smile and said "I thought I would introduce you to my father next, and then we can go up and see how Mr. Marlow is doing."

Rae didn't say anything she just nodded, wondering what the father of this tall, softly spoken and evidently very kind cop would be like. Even if she had had a hundred years to work it out she would never have come up with what met her eyes when they entered Dr. Sloan's office. There were about 12 books on his desk that had been made into a temporary fort; there was a hole in the middle through which a water gun was pointing.  Across the room was a young boy with a cast on his wrist. He also had a water pistol, and he was trying to shoot at the person hiding behind the books.  Suddenly a spurt of water shot out of the vantage point on the desk, which went wide of it's young target, the boy laughed and then shot back.

"Oh you got me!" Said a cheerful voice from behind the desk. A white haired, gentleman (Rae knew you could never describe him otherwise, she wasn't sure how, but she just knew) suddenly looked very sheepish and said "Hi, son, what brings you here? You know Jamie don't you?"

Jamie smiled at Steve and said, "I guess that I have to go now then Dr Sloan?"

"Yep Jamie, I'll be up to see you before I finish today. Oh here, you had better take these with you, I don't think Steve wants to play with me."

Steve smiled and prepared himself to go through the introduction process again. But Rae beat him to it.

"You must be Dr. Mark Sloan, I'm Rae Yeager, and I'm Cheryl's replacement for the next 6 months at least. What **were** you doing?" Rae held out her hand and smiled at the older man and he took it and smiled back. 

"Oh Jamie is having an operation on his wrist in the morning, and he is really nervous, I thought I would just take his mind off it for a little while."

"How kind," said Rae, "Do you do that for all your patients?"

"Well I find that once they get over about 40 they don't want to play cowboy anymore." Mark glanced over at Steve as he said this, and Rae guessed that he must have passed that milestone in the not too distant past, she smiled at them both. Yes, she thought, she certainly would enjoy spending some time with the Sloans.

About half an hour, and a cup of herbal tea later, Rae found herself charging after Steve again as he made his way up to visit Mr. Marlow. "Sir," she called. "Hold up a minute, we need to get something straight, right now."

Steve turned around with a confused look on his face. "What is it Rae?"

"I am here for at least six months probably 12, I hope I will learn a lot from you, and enjoy myself while I am here. What I don't want to do is spend the whole time running after you, because your legs are twice as long as mine."

Steve smiled a broad smile, and Rae's stomach turned over a couple of times, then he put his hand on her shoulder and said, "If you find I am going too fast for you again, you can buy me a leash." With that he turned back towards Mr. Marlow's room and walked, very slowly toward it. Rae stuck her tongue out at him and strolled past, looking for room 235.

By the time they reached the room they had both returned to the problem at hand. Steve knocked on the door and heard a faint noise that he took to be permission to enter. Mr. Marlow was awake, his bandaged wrists resting on the bed covers. He tried a small smile, and then looked at the two detectives.

Steve held out his badge, took the initiative and said, "Mr. Marlow, I'm sorry to bother you at this difficult time, but I need to ask your permission to do something." Rae looked over at Steve, and realised that she should have asked him what his line of questioning was going to be. After all this man wasn't a suspect, as far as she knew, what could Steve need that required his permission?

Mr. Marlow also looked confused and said, "Sure Detective, what is it?"

Steve, looked distinctly uncomfortable, but straightened his back and said, "I don't know if you have seen your daughter's body, Mr. Marlow." The figure on the bed seemed to shrink back into the covers as Steve spoke. "Your daughter has bite marks on her body, we don't think that you did this, but I need a dental imprint so that we can rule you out completely."

Rae could see the anger building in Mr. Marlow's eyes. Just as she thought it was going to burst out and envelop them both it seemed to disappear back into his soul. Hana's father just nodded weakly and said, "Anything you want Detective, but I swear to you I did nothing to hurt my little girl. I never even smacked her hand when she was naughty. I loved her with all my heart. Whatever am I going to do without her?" Suddenly loud, sobs filled the room, Steve looked even more uncomfortable, but Rae, put her arms around the small man in the bed and let him cry on her shoulder until he couldn't continue anymore.

When Rae looked around she saw that Steve had left the room, probably to get the stuff to take the imprint she thought. She placed a hand on Mr. Marlow's arm and quietly spoke to him.

"Mr. Marlow, I am so sorry for your loss. I have a daughter of nine myself, and I can't bear to think of losing her. We need to get your help to catch the person who did this to her. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Anything I can do to help you I will, but I don't have any energy left, I would willingly change places with her." He looked down at his wrists, "I thought I would be better off if I could join her, how selfish was that? How would Susan and Josh have coped with my death as well as Hana's? I'm sorry, Detective, did you tell me your name?"

Rae realised, belatedly that neither of them had introduced themselves, "My name is Detective Inspector Yeager, Mr. Marlow."

"Inspector?"

"Yes I normally work in London, we have Detective Inspectors there. My partner is Lieutenant Sloan." Rae smiled slightly and then continued. "Did Hana confide in you Mr. Marlow, did she tell you anything more about the accident she had with her arm?"

"No, no, but she was really excited about getting the cast off tomorrow. There are tryouts for the junior cheerleaders next week, and she had been practising everyday." A sudden horrified look crossed his face and two tears escaped down his cheeks. "I have a pom pom hidden in the trunk of my car for her, now she will never see it. Why couldn't I have given it to her when I bought it?"

Rae didn't know what to say to this man who was hurting so much and was extremely relieved when the door opened slowly and Steve came in with the equipment he needed to take a mould of Mr. Marlow's teeth.

"OK, Mr. Marlow …"

"George, please"

"OK George, this is a horrible process, but I have done it before, so it shouldn't take long. Now, first of all, I need to put this mould on your bottom teeth and you bite down," George looked at the dark grey stuff inside the mould, shuddered and opened his mouth. Steve put it in the right place and watched as Mr. Marlow closed his mouth. Once he had removed the lower mould, the same procedure was carried out on the top ones. About 2 minutes after they had started, Steve had all that he needed. He smiled at the desolate man and said quietly. "A plaster cast is taken from this. We will leave you in peace now Mr. Marlow, this is just to confirm our opinion that you had nothing to do with your daughter's death. I am sorry to have had to put you through this."

"That's OK Lieutenant, just catch whoever did this and tore our family apart. That's all I ask of both of you."

Steve and Rae looked at each other and then nodded to the man in the bed. But he had closed his eyes and they quietly left him to his solitude.

Steve and Rae drove in silence back to the precinct house and returned to the mess that was Steve's corner of the squad room. Rae, who had forgotten about all the papers on her desk sighed and looked enquiringly at Steve. "Alright, I give up, let's both take an hour or so, and try to clear this up a little," said Steve with a shrug.

"Both, both, who said anything about both?" said Rae, but her eyes were smiling.

"Well," said Steve, smiling in return "You seem to have made a mess of your desk already Detective!" Rae didn't have an answer to that, but as she was a person who liked to live and work in an orderly environment she got down to her enforced task willingly.

Almost three hours later, Rae pushed her short hair back off her face, let out a long sigh and looked at her clear desk. Steve smiled across at her from his now shining work area said "Tea?"

"Cup or meal?" asked Rae and looked at her watch 7.00 pm. A look of horror crossed her face. "Oh no!"

"What?" asked Steve, looking concerned.

"I had to go out this afternoon and find another place to stay. I had only two nights booked where I was." Rae sat down with a thud in her chair.

"Look, Rae, this is partly my fault."

"Partly?"

"OK, the filing was my fault, you can come and stay with me for a couple of nights."

"Why Lieutenant this is so sudden!" said Rae with a grin.

"Calm down Detective, I live with my father." But that just made Rae grin even more, she had liked Mark Sloan on sight, and the idea of staying in his house was an agreeable one.

 "Should I bring my water pistol?"

"Look it's just after 7.00 pm why don't we make up our report on today's activities and then retire to Bob's and I'll treat you to the best barbeque in town?"

"You have got yourself a deal, boss."

It was half past eight by the time Steve and Rae, now in her rental car, arrived outside the best barbeque restaurant in town. Rae smiled as she went in through the door, it looked just like she had imagined a place owned by Steve and Jesse would look. Friendly and inviting. There was a young blonde man standing by the cash register as they walked in. Steve turned to Rae and said. "Rae, this is Alex Martin, he's a third year medical student at Community General he works with Jesse and my Dad. Alex this is Rae Yeager, my partner while Cheryl's in Europe."

Alex held out his hand and smiled as Rae took it. "Would you like to take a menu? I'm afraid you'll have to sit at the bar, we're real busy for a Monday."

"No problem Alex, could you get me a mineral water?" Rae sat down at the end of the bar and looked at the menu, she wasn't sure what to have, but it was nice to just be able to relax and unwind after her first day on the job. 

"Hi Rae, how was your day?" Rae looked up and saw Jesse smiling at her. Five minutes later Steve looked over from where he was waiting tables to see Rae and Jesse deep in conversation and obviously enjoying each other's company. Suddenly Jesse moved away from her and headed towards to Steve.

"Hi buddy, how's it going?" Jesse was grinning happily as he wandered across the restaurant. 

"Fine, you and Rae seem to be getting on well."

"Yeah, she's great, look I wanted to ask you something, and tell you something as well." Jesse looked a little embarrassed. Steve smiled over at his friend, he was sure that he knew what Jesse was going to ask.

"The thing is would you mind if I asked her out? I mean, I'm on an early shift tomorrow, and so are the two of you right, so Rae and I could spend the afternoon together, if that is alright with you, I'm waffling aren't I?"

"Yeah Jess, you're waffling, and no I don't mind, she seems to really like you." Steve turned to go, and then turned back, "Ah, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Rae said that she is going to be staying at your house for a few days. Have you told her where it is?"

"No Jess, why?"

"Because, I was just talking to her, and she said that one of the reasons she wanted to come to LA is so that she could spend some time on the beach at Malibu. It's going to be quite a surprise for her when she wakes up in the morning." Jess smiled, wishing he would be able to see her face when she saw the view Mark and Steve enjoyed from their deck.

Steve smiled as well, "I'll tell you her reaction Jesse, that is if she doesn't do it first. I won't say anything to her, today's been quite an induction, and she could do with something to brighten her day."

Jesse stopped to chat to Alex for a moment, and asked him not to mention that Steve lived at the beach. He saw Rae wave at him as he turned around again. "Jesse, have you got a moment?"

"Sure, Rae, what is it?"

"It's just that the table in the corner has been waiting for a while, would you like me to give you a hand? I used to wait tables when I was in college."

Jess said nothing, but smiled and handed her a pad. "Consider yourself hired ma'am."

Rae worked the tables for about two hours, it was only when she sat down as Steve put the closed sign up, that she realised that all she had had since she arrived was a mineral water. As he had an early shift Alex had left a little while earlier and Jesse was cashing up as Steve walked over to her. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Steve turned back, smiling as he opened the door to reveal Mark and Amanda. Rae saw Steve whisper to Mark who nodded and smiled, but thought nothing of it. She picked up a cloth and started to wipe down the tables nearest to her, wondering whether she should ask if they had any food left. Now that she had thought about it, she realised that she was starving.

Mark walked over to her, smiled and said "Rae, have you been working here all evening?"

"Yes, but that's OK, they were so busy and I didn't want them to lose business when I could easily help out. But I must admit, I am getting quite hungry now."

"You haven't had anything to eat?" Mark looked genuinely horrified and turned to his son. "Steve, Rae hasn't had anything to eat since she got here, can you rustle up a plate of ribs and some salad for all of us?"

"Rae, I'm so sorry, it's coming right up." Steve looked suitably abashed as he disappeared into the kitchens, where cooking sounds could soon be heard.

In a little while the five of them were seated around the table with a pile of ribs and plates of salad in front of them. Rae was soon tucking in with the rest of them, and the general conversation returned to the case in hand, and how Rae had enjoyed her first day with Steve.

"Well, I felt so sorry for the Marlow's, they have lost their daughter, and they feel so helpless, and I must admit I felt helpless as well, hopefully we will get some more information tomorrow and be able to help them. I know it won't bring their daughter back, but at least if they know that the monster that killed her is behind bars, it must make the pain a little easier to bear. I'm glad that we're sitting down now, I seemed to spend all day rushing to catch up to your long legged son."

"So, Rae, is the squad room any different to what you are used to in London?" asked Mark with a smile. "Will Cheryl find it strange being over there?"

"Oh some things are different, we don't have those big water coolers that you have, and not all the policemen have guns, but some things are the same the world over I guess. I used to spend hours doing filing in London too." Rae smiled and looked over at Steve and Mark and noticed that Steve was looking embarrassed and Mark horrified.

"Steve, you didn't" said Amanda looking as horrified as Mark.

"What, have I missed something?" said Rae looking puzzled. 

Mark smiled at her and said, "You're not the only one who has fallen for the big blue eyes and the _just an hour or so_ speech." Steve hurriedly got up to get himself another soda and Rae, not sure what to do, stuck her tongue out at him again.

The rest of the late evening was pleasant, and Rae was enjoying the company immensely. As she went into the kitchen to take the plates out she found Jesse at her shoulder. "Rae, I was wondering, I know you are on an early shift tomorrow, and that you are off in the afternoon, well I am too, and I was wondering, oh I already said that didn't I?" Rae smiled at him with encouragement and Jesse carried on, "Would you like to spend the afternoon with me, I could show you some of the sights, if you would like, of course I would understand if you don't want to …" Rae reached over and placed a finger on his lips.

"Shhh, Jesse, I would love to spend tomorrow afternoon with you. Maybe we could go to the beach. Could you pick me up at Mark and Steve's place at about 2.00pm?"

Jesse smiled at her, and said, "It's a date."

"Rae, come on, we're leaving," Steve put his head around the door and called out. She picked up her jacket from the bar and walked out, once again following along in Steve's wake. _Some things never change_, she thought.

Rae followed Mark and Steve home in a little convoy of three, she couldn't see much of the house when she arrived, but she hoped she would get the chance to have a better look tomorrow. Steve came over and took her bags from the trunk and they headed into the house together. Mark stood at the top of the stairs and directed her straight to the guest bedroom. With a conspiratorial smile Steve walked in behind her _that's a novelty_ she thought as she entered the room and put her bags on the bed. 

"Is this all there is?" asked Steve, as Rae plonked herself down on the mattress. 

"Yes, just some clothes, shoes, a couple of photos, CD player and my Michael Ball CD's. There didn't seem much point in bringing much else."

"Whose CD's? Did you mean Michael Bolton?" said Steve looking puzzled.

"No, I did not mean Michael Bolton, I meant Michael Ball, he's starring in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in the West End of London at the moment, and he's great." Rae looked animated for a moment, but she was so tired that she couldn't contain the yawn that escaped her lips. Steve smiled at her and said,

"I will leave you to your beauty sleep Detective, don't forget, we need to leave at 6.00am tomorrow." And with that Steve left the room, and Rae, suddenly overcome with exhaustion and getting used to living in a different time zone, found it all she could do to crawl into the bathroom before she collapsed into bed.


	2. Tuesday

Suffer Little Children

Tuesday 

It only seemed like five minutes later that her watch alarm was persistently telling her that it was 5.30am and it was time to get up. Rae groaned and once more headed for the bathroom. Then, as she made for the kitchen where she could see that Steve was responsible for the smell of freshly brewed coffee, her eyes caught the view out of the window and she gasped.

"Oh my goodness! Steve, why didn't you tell me you lived right on the beach? Oh, this is wonderful, how lucky you are! What an amazing view!" Rae couldn't go on, she was gazing out of the window as the early morning sunlight shone off the water, and the breakers made their way to shore. Steve walked up behind her with a big grin on his face. Sometimes he knew he and his Dad took the location of their home for granted, and it took somebody else's amazement to make them realise how lucky they were. 

"I've lived here since I was 11, and I didn't tell you about it because Jesse said that one of the things you wanted to do while you were here was to go to the beach at Malibu, so we decided to leave it as a surprise."

"Thank you so much, it was wonderful." Rae smiled and Steve leant over and opened the door.

"Go on, sit outside and I'll bring you out a coffee to kick start your day."

"Ah, Steve, I don't drink coffee, have you got any herbal tea?" Steve made a face to let Rae know what he thought of that, but went off into the kitchen to make her drink.

15 minutes later Rae and Steve were in convoy once again as they headed into the squad room. Once there they sat and went through what they had written yesterday about the Hana Marlow case and made a list of all the people they would need to interview. It was a short list, as it usually was when children were involved. There were the parents, the schoolteacher and Principal, and if, as in Hana's case they thought it would help, the victim's friends and schoolmates. Then while Steve phoned Amanda, Rae went over to the computer and sent an email to Cheryl in London to suggest that they kept in touch while they were sitting in each other's chairs. She also mentioned that she had done all the filing and that she promised to keep her desk clear for her until she came back.

Steve wandered over just as she was logging off, and indicated that she should follow him.

"Only if you slow down a bit. Where are we going Lieutenant?"

As Rae took her place in the passenger seat of Steve's car, he started the engine and left the parking lot. "Amanda has tested the bite marks found on Hana's body against the mould taken from her father, as we suspected, it was nowhere near a match. I said that we would pick up a kit to test the mother, and have another look at the marks. We have a little time before we need to set off to see Susan Marlow. Oh, did you bring her address?"

Rae clapped her hand to her forehead, then grinned and held up the piece of paper with a laugh. Then she put her head back against the headrest and though about the wonderful surprise she had had that morning until they pulled into the hospital lot.

Amanda was at the reception desk as they left the elevator. She smiled over at Rae and as she walked over she said, "Jesse tells me that you and he are going out this afternoon. I was thinking, once you know your shifts for next week, maybe we could go out for a girly shopping trip, what do you say?"

Rae was thrilled. She hadn't had many friends in London; _it's not easy being a policewoman and keeping up a close circle of friends, even Steve, who doesn't seem to have much problem, is still single._ All this flashed through Rae's mind in an instant and she smiled at Amanda and said, "That would be lovely, I guess my plastic will take a bit of a battering though?"

"Count on it," said Amanda with a grin. Then she became all business like again and led the two detectives towards her office. Once inside she showed them the photos of the dental impressions Steve had made of George Marlow. Rae was a novice when it came to this sort of thing, but even she could see that there was no way that the two could match. She let out a breath she hadn't even realised she was holding. She had needed to see the confirmation of the father's innocence. Now all they needed to do was exonerate the mother and they could get on with the real case.

Steve picked up another dental kit, and they made their way back toward the elevator. As they walked past the ER Rae heard a voice calling her name.

"Rae, Rae, hi, how was the view?" Jesse came bounding over, a grin all over his face. 

Rae was able to respond with all the enthusiasm she had felt when she had first looked out of the window that morning. "Oh Jesse it was wonderful! I am so glad that no one told me. It was such a surprise! I will never forget that sight and the feelings that it gave me. Thank you."

Jesse felt himself blush under her gaze, but he pulled himself together. "So are we still on for this afternoon?" 

"Yes, of course, but do you think we could spend it at the house? Just enjoy each other's company and that wonderful beach?" Rae looked a little concerned as she asked, but Jesse kept on smiling.

"That would be great, it'll give us some time to get to know each other a little better."

Suddenly Rae turned round to face Steve, "Oh Steve, I'm sorry, would that be alright with you? It **is** your house after all!" 

Steve was going to string them along a bit, but he saw that Rae was turning crimson under his gaze and he didn't have the heart, he smiled and said, "Of course, it's not a problem. See you later Jess. Come on Rae." And he was off again. 

"Steve, wait up, or I will just not come," said Rae, standing still and trying a trick she had used when her children were small and wouldn't hold her hand. Once again it worked. Mara would never walk off without her Mum and Steve stopped and began to walk back towards his partner. Rae let a small grin appear, then she turned, waved goodbye to Jesse and strolled slowly out of the E.R.

As Steve and Rae left the hospital she turned to him and said, "Sir, could we stop somewhere so that I can get a mobile?"

"A what?" Steve looked puzzled.

"Um a cell phone?"

"Oh right, yeah, the place I got mine is just down here," Steve checked his watch, "He should be open by now." Steve turned off the main road, and headed into a commercial area of town. 

Rae sat in the car playing with her new phone. She had called her children and left the new number on the answer phone, and now she was programming in useful contacts. She looked up as the car slowed down, and she realised that they had arrived at Susan Marlow's house.

 The front door opened before they got halfway up the path, and Rae knew that they had been watched through the window. As she had thought, Hana's brother hadn't gone to school, and it was he who opened the door. Rae's heart sank as she saw by his face that he was absolutely devastated. Suddenly she felt really angry. Nobody should have to go through what the Marlow's were experiencing. She remembered her mother used to say that she wanted to kick the cat, although as her cat was almost 20 years old, Rae was sure that she never had, but if there had been a ball on the front lawn right now she was sure she could have kicked it right back home to England.  All these thoughts had been pushed away by the time she reached the front door and she held out her hand and said, "I'm Detective Inspector Yeager, but you can call me Rae."

"Inspector?" 

"Yes Inspector, I'm from London." Rae explained patiently.

"Josh is that the police dear?" a very tired sounding voice called out from inside the house. 

"Yes mom, they are just coming in now." Josh held open the door and Steve and Rae came in to a spotless house, which smelt of lavender. 

Mrs Marlow came forward wiping her hands on her apron. "Do come in, please excuse the mess." She wiped imaginary crumbs off the sofa and indicated for them to sit down. Rae sat next to Susan Marlow, but Steve sat a little way off and let Rae take the lead. As she was about to speak Mrs Marlow looked up at her son and said, "Josh please go up to your room for a while son." Josh looked as if he was going to argue but then just shrugged his shoulders and headed for the stairs.

"I know I can't protect him from everything that has happened, but I just want to be able to tell him in my own way. I hope you understand." She twisted the apron in her hands, untwisted it and then started to twist it up again.

Rae took a deep breath and then started what she knew was going to be a very difficult process. "Mrs Marlow, I am so sorry that we have to bother you at this time, but we need to get any information that we can, as soon as we can. I hope you understand that." Rae paused. "Please don't be offended by what I am about to say, but we need to take an imprint of your teeth."

Mrs Marlow looked puzzled and Rae knew that if she stopped talking now she would never get started again. "Your daughter has bite marks on her body, Susan. We need to have a copy of your teeth so that we can exclude you from our investigation." Rae had expected Susan Marlow to get either angry or hysterical, but she did neither. Instead she wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock back and forth. Rae looked up at Steve, made her hands into a T shape and shooed him off to the kitchen. To his credit, he didn't bat an eye as his subordinate ordered him around.

Rae put an arm around Hana's mother's shoulders and spoke softly to her. Steve had no idea what she was saying, but as he watched over the work surface in the kitchen he could see that slowly she was getting through to the distraught woman and the rocking was gradually stopping.

Mrs Marlow eventually looked up at Rae, and smiled a small wan smile and said, "I will do everything you ask of me Detective."

"Call me Rae Mrs. Marlow, between us we'll try to ease a little of your pain. I know nothing will ever bring your daughter back, but we owe it to her to stop this person before they can do this again."

Mrs Marlow straightened up in her seat and said, "Lets do this disgusting thing with my teeth before I have my cup of tea shall we?" Rae smiled at the brave woman sitting before her. She leant over and picked up the dental kit and began her work.

10 minutes later, Susan Marlow returned from the bathroom. She had brushed her teeth four times, and she could still feel that revolting stuff in her mouth. Steve came in with a cup of tea, it had three sugars in it, and probably tasted awful, but she drank it down without a word.

Rae smiled over at her and started to talk again. "Susan, do you think we could go up and have a look in Hana's room?" On receiving a nod Steve and Rae started towards the stairs. They waited for Mrs. Marlow to go up in front of them, and she paused at a pink door half way down the hallway. She seemed to shrink back again, and Rae put her hand on her back and said quietly "Have you been in here since Hana died?" 

Mrs Marlow shook her head, and Rae noticed that her shoulders were shaking, she was sobbing quietly. Rae took her hand and said, "The longer you leave it, the harder it'll be to cross the threshold. Come on, we can go in together. You and I, OK?" Rae saw a small nod of approval and before the woman could change her mind she propelled her across the carpet and into a room that would have been her own little girl's dream.

The carpet was a pale lilac, as were the walls. They had silver flowers tumbling down them at regular intervals on the paper. The bed was a simple plain affair, but it had a Buffy duvet cover on it, and there were Buffy and Angel posters on the wall. Rae smiled. "My daughter would love this room. She wants to be either Buffy or a vet when she grows up."

At the mention of a daughter Susan Marlow looked round at Rae. "How old is your daughter Detective?" 

Rae suddenly felt guilty that she had a healthy happy daughter the same age as the little girl the Marlow's had lost, but she smiled slightly and said "She's 9 years old Mrs Marlow."

Susan Marlow put her hands on Rae's arms and said, "Keep her safe, keep her out of harms way. I failed my little girl, my Hana and now she's gone, don't let this happen to you."

Rae felt a lump in her throat. She looked over at Steve and noticed that he couldn't look her in the eye. She returned the hug that Susan was giving her, and then she pulled away. She thought of the child in Amanda's morgue and prayed that Susan Marlow wouldn't ask to see a picture of her own little girl.

Steve moved into the room a little and by doing so he broke the moment. Susan pulled herself together once more and looked over at Rae. "What did you hope to find in here?" 

Rae looked around the room, which was as spotless as the rest of the house. She thought of Mara's room at her Dad's house, which if you were lucky, you could get into, but normally it was a small miracle just to open the door.  "Have you tidied up in here since your daughter's death Mrs. Marlow?"

Susan shook her head. "No, I haven't, I've tidied this house from top to bottom. I just couldn't sit still and think. But I didn't do this room, Hana was a very tidy girl though." 

Rae looked around,  "Did she have a diary, or any letters that she had written to herself?"

"No, I bought her a diary for Christmas, a Buffy one, but she didn't write in it yet. She said that she was going to wait until she was older." Susan suddenly realised what she had said and rushed from the room. Rae didn't follow her this time. She knew that she couldn't be with her every time her grief hit her, and it would give her and Steve a little time to look at Hana's things. 

Rae looked at Steve and said, "Everything has to be left as it is now. I am just guessing here, but I would say that you haven't had much experience of tiding up little girls rooms." 

Steve looked at her but he didn't argue. He looked at all the places in the room that interested him and Rae followed along behind, _again,_ putting everything back where it came from. They saw all her clothes neatly folded in drawers and on shelves. There were no pieces of paper slipped between the layers, nor down the backs of the drawers. If Hana Marlow had kept a note of who was abusing her, she hadn't kept it where her house-proud mother would find it. Rae smiled. If her mother had been as tidy as Susan Marlow she would have never been allowed to leave the house! The secrets she kept from her, oh boy! Suddenly she resolved to phone her the first chance she got.

They heard a sound behind them and saw Josh standing in the doorway. Rae went towards him, but Steve beat her to it. He walked Josh towards the boy's bedroom and they disappeared inside. Rae took another look around the room; she rummaged around in Hana's underwear drawer again – which was where she always kept her secret stuff – and came out of the room. Susan Marlow was standing looking down the hall. She could hear crying coming from behind the half closed blue door. Rae took her arm and led her back down the stairs.

"He won't tell him anything you don't want him to know, Susan. He's a good cop and a kind man. Josh'll be fine with him. Trust me."

"I do trust you Rae, I trust you to find Hana's killer."

"While they're talking do you think you could find me a recent photo of Hana?"

A few minutes later Steve walked down the stairs. Rae went over to him. "I think we're through here Detective," he said. He turned to Mrs. Marlow. "Your son is OK Mrs. Marlow. I was very careful what I said to him."

Mrs. Marlow smiled slowly. "I know that Lieutenant. Will you let me show you out?"

Steve and Rae walked slowly down the drive, when suddenly Rae stopped and returned to the door. "Mrs Marlow, what school did Hana go to, and what was the name of her teacher?"

"She went to St Mary's and her teacher was called Ms Howard."

Rae smiled and turned back towards Steve. "How could I forget to ask that? This case is beginning to get to me, thank goodness I've got this afternoon off."

As they drove away Steve asked, "Rae, what did you say to Mrs. Marlow to calm her down?" 

"You know I'm not really sure, I just said that she would have plenty of time to grieve when we had solved the case, and that eventually she would remember the good times as well as this terrible time, I don't know if that was what did it, or if it was just the tone of my voice." Rae was suddenly embarrassed and looked out of the window.

Steve looked at his watch and said "I guess we'd better get you back to the station house straight away, or Jesse will think you've stood him up." Rae smiled and looked across at him. 

"Hey, you wear your watch on your right arm, are you a lefty?"

"Yeah, why are you?"

"Yes, you know there aren't so many of us around." She thought for a moment then said, "Ah, Steve, when you introduce me, or I tell anybody who I am, I think I'll drop the Inspector bit, Detective Yeager will do" Rae smiled again and looked around at the scenery. She thought she recognised it, "I think we're almost at the station, am I right?"

"You **are** getting good at this, you know you ought to be a detective inspector!" Steve looked around just in time to see the tongue come out again. He smiled and pulled into the parking lot. 

Rae got out of the car, determined to be the first into the squad room, at least once, she put her report in the filing tray on her desk and turned around to leave, just as Steve entered the room. "Hey you off already?"

"That's alright isn't it? We were supposed to finish a half hour ago." Rae looked up anxiously at Steve.

"Yeah, go on off you go. I'll see you later; have a good time with Jesse. Rae, did you check the shifts. We're off tomorrow, you don't have to be back in until 10.00 Thursday."

Rae smiled as she left the room, and Steve watched her go with a glint in his eye. He had a feeling Rae and Jesse were going to get on real well. 

Rae was hoping the same thing as she drove along. She had a map on the seat next to her, but she had a good idea how to get home. Home, she didn't know where home was any more, but she was glad that she had found some good friends who she had a feeling would help her find it.

As she pulled into the Sloan driveway she took her first look at their home in the daylight. It was an interesting house, and she was glad that Steve had offered her a room here. As she got out of her car she noticed that Jesse was already there, waiting at the door for her.  He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Rae smiled and let him lead her inside. 

Rae got changed into some casual clothes and then joined Jesse on the deck. The sun was shining down and there was a jug of lemonade on the table. Jesse stood up as Rae came through the doors and smiled at her. "So, what do you want to do? I could teach you to surf if you like?"

"You surf?"

"Yeah, it's great, the sun, the sea, the waves, the babes – oh, I guess I shouldn't have said that." Jesse looked a bit sheepish.

Rae looked over at Jesse, "I don't want to learn how to surf thank you. I just want to sit on the sand and enjoy the sea air and the wind in my hair." Jesse took Rae by the hand and they went down the steps and out on to the sand. He had a blanket with him and soon they were sat on the beach. Rae had her feet buried in the sand, but she was bouncing up and down like a young child, she was so excited to be somewhere she had always dreamt of going. Jesse looked at her and laughed. 

"Would you like to build a sand castle too?"

"No thank you, this isn't the right kind of sand, no, tell me something about Jesse Travis, like, why you became a doctor."

"Oh it's a long story, but I did it basically to make my mother, who is also a doctor, proud."

"And was she?" ask Rae perceptively.

"No, not really, but I think she is, a little bit, now. What about you, how did you become a cop?"

"What's a nice girl like you doing in a rotten job like this you mean? Well it was either that or school teacher. Maybe I should have stuck with the teaching, at least my daughter would still be with me." Rae looked a little down, but she forced a smile. "I'm sorry, I always wanted to join the force. I was one of those boring people who knew exactly what they wanted to do from the age of about 5. I was lucky, it turned out that I could do what I wanted. Apart from the recent problems, I've never regretted it."

Jesse smiled down at this young woman who he really liked.  She was open and friendly, and she made him feel at his ease. He hoped that this would be the first of many days spent just talking and taking in the sights and sounds of the beach.

They talked and laughed and ran in and out of the water all afternoon. Finally Rae lay back on the blanket and smiled up at Jesse, "Thank you for a lovely afternoon Jesse, I needed to get away from work, to forget about everything for a while, this was just what the doctor ordered." Jesse looked at her, and then Rae laughed, not a little laugh, she put back her head and really laughed. "Oh good grief, I can't believe I just said that." Jesse looked at her and laughed as well, 

"You mean you weren't trying to be funny?"

"No, it just slipped out." Rae closed her eyes, lay back down again and a smile played across her face. Jesse was instantly transfixed. He slowly leant down towards her and found her lips with his. Rae's eyes opened and for a moment it looked as if she was going to protest, but then she relaxed back against the sand and kissed him back with a passion that shocked him for a second. He felt her tongue in his mouth and soon neither of them was aware of anything but each other. They didn't notice the figure come out on to the deck of the beach house and look knowingly down at the couple on the sand. Steve smiled and went back indoors – he was a detective after all!


	3. Wednesday

Suffer Little Children Wednesday 

Rae slept late the next morning and then lay in bed thinking over the last few days. She scrabbled around in her bag until she found her diary. It didn't have any dates in it, she just used it to put down her thoughts. Her mind wandered back to the end of last week. She had said a tearful goodbye to her children on the Friday morning. Her last shift in London hadn't ended until the Thursday lunchtime.  She had arrived in L.A. on a Saturday morning, found herself a room for a couple of days and then tried to sleep off the jet lag.  In her naïve way she had thought she would be able to do a little sight seeing on the Sunday, however, she had no real recollection of there being a Sunday. There must have been one, or else someone would have mentioned it! But she, Reagan Yeager had slept right through it.  It was probably just as well, because Monday arrived with a bang. She had paid her bill and put all her things into her rental car. Rae stopped thinking for a minute. Pulled a piece of paper towards her. Put _Things To Do_ on the top of it, wrote No.1 Buy Car. And then returned to her reminiscences. 

If anybody had asked her what she would like for her first case she would have said something simple, something cut and dried, but now, she had child abuse and murder. But she was determined to find Hana's killer, she felt that she owed that to Susan and George Marlow and also she knew that she owed it to Mara. Suddenly Rae shivered. What was she doing lying in bed on her only complete day off for a week? She leapt out of bed and headed for the shower.

Half an hour later Mark returned from an extended night shift to hear what could only be described as caterwauling coming from the kitchen. He let himself into the house and saw Rae, cleaning down the worktops, singing along at the top of her voice to, who did she say she liked, Michael Ball, that was it. "Rae, Rae," Mark called out, but Rae was completely oblivious to the fact that she had company. He walked up and put his hand on her shoulder and Rae leapt into the air.

"Oh my, Mark, you scared me half to death!"

"I'm sorry, you couldn't hear me above your singing."

"I don't sing Mark, I wail. I only do it when I'm on my own. I won't inflict it on anybody else. It's so bad that when I was at school I had to take a book to music class. I wasn't allowed to join in."

"That's terrible, why not?"

"Our teacher made everybody sing individually until she found the person who was singing out of tune. It was me, and after that I had to read instead." Rae shrugged her shoulders and moved away from Mark to turn off the music.

Mark put his hand on her shoulder, "Don't ever be afraid to sing in this house. You should be able to sing in your own home, and while you're here this is your home."

Rae was genuinely touched. She turned round and gave Mark a hug. "Thank you, I'll remind you of that when you have your head hidden under the cushions while I'm cooking up a storm in the kitchen and frightening all the cats in the neighbourhood at the same time."

Mark laughed, "So what are you planning to do today?"

Rae pointed to her 'To Do List' on the work surface. "I'm going to go out and buy myself a car. I can't drive a rental for 6 to 12 months, so I'm going to see what I can get. Can you recommend anywhere?"

"I can do better than that, I can take you to the place where I got my car. What do you say?"

"Oh Mark, thank you, that would be great. I don't know the first thing about buying a car" Rae looked extremely relieved.

Mark and Rae left the house about 30 minutes later and headed into town, after about 2 or 3 miles Rae had absolutely no idea where she was, and was even more relieved that she had such pleasant company.

"This place does rental and used cars," explained Mark, "I've used them for both." As they entered the office Rae saw an assistant hurry towards the 'Staff Only' door, but Mark was too quick. "This is Dave, he usually deals with me. Dave this is Ms Yeager, she needs a new car."

Dave turned and smiled at Rae. "Ms Yeager, what sort of car were you looking for?"

Rae looked around the lot. "I'm not really sure, do you mind if I have a look around?

"Not at all, just call me if you need any assistance." Dave retreated back into the office, and Rae was amused to see that Mark followed him in. As she looked around the lot Rae was a little bemused. There were lots of cars, but none really caught her eye. Then suddenly she spotted something over in the back and headed in that direction.

A few minutes later Rae was back in Dave's office, her eyes bright with excitement. "I've found the car I like, it's at the back of the forecourt." 

"I beg your pardon?" said Dave looking a little confused.

"Ah, I think I mean at the back of the lot?" said Rae with a smile. "The red car, a Beetle."

"That one has only just come in, I was about to move it to the front, I didn't think it would stay here long." Dave smiled and said, "Would you like to come through and I can arrange a test drive and then hopefully we will go through all the formalities."

About an hour later Rae was the proud owner of a bright red beetle. Mark had given her the name of his insurance agent and she had the proof of insurance and that she was the registered owner neatly stashed away in the glove box. She was thrilled with her car and couldn't wait to show it off to Jesse. Suddenly she had an idea. "Mark, what time does Jesse stop for lunch?

Mark checked his watch, "Any time now should probably be good for him, why don't you go and surprise him sweetie, do you know the way from here?"

Rae was suddenly flustered, no, she had no idea how to get to Community General from here, in fact she had no idea where here was, but it was the use of sweetie that had caught her off guard. She walked over to Mark and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I thank you for your kindness Sir," she said with a smile. 

The smile on her face was thanks enough for Mark, he was so pleased for her that she had found exactly what she wanted straight away, _never happens like that for me_ he thought with a rueful smile. "Right, I'll lead you back until it's simply a case of following signposts. Besides it might be just as well to have somebody else around for your first solo trip." 

Once again Rae was heartened by the kindness of these people that she had only known a few days. 

As Rae waved goodbye to Mark and started to follow the signs towards the hospital, she relished the freedom she had always felt in London when she was driving along by herself. She smiled and pushed her hand through her hair, a couple more miles and she would be able to show off her cute little car.

Jesse was walking down the corridor towards reception when the elevator pinged and Rae came smiling towards him. "Hi Jesse, do you think you could spare a lonely girl some company for lunch?"

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea," Jesse looked at his watch, "I've only got half an hour though, so I guess it will have to be the hospital canteen."

"OK, that sounds fine to me. Lead the way Doctor!"

Rae sat down at a table and put her jacket potato and salad down in front of her. Jesse looked at his sandwich from all angles, shrugged his shoulders and took a bite. "You know Steve loves this stuff, as far as I'm concerned, even the sandwiches are a let down." He looked over to Rae, "How's your salad?"

"Actually it's not too bad. When you eat on the run a lot a sit down meal is a luxury. I'm so glad that you were free for lunch. I wanted to thank you for a really nice time yesterday." Rae paused; she didn't want to appear too forward. "I hope that we can do it again soon."

Jesse smiled at her, put his hand behind her head and pulled her towards him, Rae wasn't surprised this time, and felt a tingle up her spine as their lips met. Suddenly Jesse's pager going off and her cell phone ringing at the same time spoilt the moment.

"Detective Yeager, no, no it's fine Steve, I'm already here. Yeah meet you there." Rae turned to Jesse as he switched off his pager.

"Sorry Rae, I've got to go, it's an emergency."

"I'll come up with you Jesse, that was Steve, another child has been attacked!"

Jesse and Rae got into the elevator and rode up in silence. Rae no longer wanted to share the news of her new car. She would wait until the atmosphere was more relaxed. Besides it was kind of nice to have a secret to keep to herself during all this unpleasantness.

There was feverish activity in the E.R. as they exited the elevator. There was a cop waiting in the hall, and they could hear a doctor shouting instructions in one of the trauma rooms. Jesse walked towards the sounds and was met by Alex coming out of the room.

"Jesse, sorry, Dr. Travis, we need you in Trauma Two right away, we can't resuscitate the child that was bought in."

Rae's heart sank, not another death, another family to help through the suffering that they shouldn't have to know exists. She turned and walked towards the cop waiting in the hallway. She knew that she should find out all that she could from him about what had happened. She got out her I.D., straightened her shoulders, grimaced as she felt the tight muscles, and started to do her job. "Hi, I'm Detective Yeager, what can you tell me?" 

"Officer Robertson. Nothing much, Detective, a lady walking her dog saw the boy lying in the grass and she called 911. We arrived at the same time as the ambulance and I followed it in."

"Has anybody spoken to the lady?"

"My partner stayed with her, she was pretty shook up, as you can imagine. She knew the child and is quite elderly, so she took her home to make her a drink and get her statement while she was there."

"Well done, have you got her name and address on you?" Rae knew that even though a statement had already been taken she and Steve would be heading over there to hear the lady's story once again.

"No, sorry Detective,"

"No problem, can you leave it on Lieutenant Sloan's desk when you get back to the station?"

The officer nodded, and the elevator doors opened. Steve came striding out, his face was strained and even though she had only known her partner for a short while she knew he was hating this case, he spotted Rae immediately and came over to her.

"Hi Martin, Rae, what've you got?"

Rae filled Steve in on all the information from Officer Robertson, and just as she was coming to a close, Alex and Jesse came out of Trauma Two. Neither Steve nor Rae had to ask them anything, they could tell by the looks on their faces that they had lost another child. Rae turned away for a moment, took a deep breath and turned back to speak to them, but Steve beat her to it.

"How soon can you get me an autopsy arranged Jess? We really need to get moving on this, if we have a serial child killer on the loose, well, I don't even want to think about the reaction."

The elevator doors opened again, and a man dressed in catering whites rushed into the Emergency Room. "Where is he, where's my Terry, they said he was brought here, where is he?"

Alex moved forward and placed his hand on the man's shoulder. As Jesse came along side him they directed him over to a quiet secluded area of the E.R. to break the devastating news to him that they had been unable to save his son. Steve and Rae moved a little way away so that they could talk together without intruding until Alex and Jesse had finished their unpleasant task. Rae risked another look, if she hadn't known better she would have said that both Alex and Jesse already knew the man they were talking to.

"Hana was found before school started." He partner's voice bought Rae back to the matter at hand. "Terry was found during the school lunch break, Robertson," Steve called over to the officer who was standing by the elevator doors. "Over here a minute."

The officer walked over to where Rae and Steve were chatting. "Can you tell me where the boy was found, and what school he goes too?"

"He was found on waste ground around the corner from St. Mary's Elementary School."

Jesse walked slowly over to the group of police officers. "Guys, as you probably guessed that is Terry's father, Mr. Tennant. He wants to speak with you. He didn't live with the boy, he's divorced from Terry's Mum, but he was friends with the old lady who found him and she rang him as soon as she got home."

"Thanks Jess," Steve turned to the other officer, "Martin, could you hang around, Mr. Tennant shouldn't be allowed to drive himself home."

"Sure thing, Lieutenant"

Rae and Steve squared their shoulders as they prepared themselves to enter another family's nightmare. Steve held his hand out to Mr. Tennant and introduced them both.

"Mr. Tennant, I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan and this is Detective Reagan Yeager, we're sorry to intrude, but we need to ask you a few basic questions."

As Terry's father looked up Rae had expected to see the same haunted eyes that she had seen on the faces of the Marlow's, but Mr. Tennant just ran his fingers through his hair and said, "What?"

"Do you have any idea who might have done this to your son?" If Steve had been surprised by Mr. Tennant's tone he certainly didn't show it. 

"Nope, I didn't see him that much. I bet if Mary hadn't phoned me nobody would have even told me my boy was dead!"

Steve and Rae exchanged glances and Rae thought she would have a go. "Mr. Tennant, can you tell me where Terry went to school, and who his teacher was?" 

"He went to St. Mary's" confirmed Mr. Tennant, "but I don't know who his teacher was, I wasn't involved in his education." 

"How old was your son Mr. Tennant?" said Steve, he knew this man must be hurting, but his indifference was staggering.

"10 last week. If that's all, I have got to get back to work," and with that he got up off his chair and walked towards the elevator. 

Rae hurried after him. "Mr. Tennant, do you have a contact number where we can reach you please?" She got ready to write in her notebook. 

"I work here, in the canteen."

Open mouthed Steve and Rae watched as the man departed.

"You know, he was pretty animated when he first came in here," said Rae, "It must be the shock that made him seem so, I don't know, hard and uncaring."

Steve put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, let's go down to Amanda and find out when she can do the autopsy. Oh Robertson, you can go back to the station."

"Don't forget that information that I asked you for." Rae called after the retreating officer. 

Amanda was just finishing up a report as they got to her office. They waited quietly outside the door until she waved them in. "Hi guys, I was going to come up to you in a minute. I need a serious coffee injection." They walked in companionable silence until they got to the Doctor's Lounge and Amanda and Steve poured themselves a cup of coffee each. Rae got a glass of water and they sat at the table. 

"I need to know when you can do the autopsy on Terry Tennant Amanda, I hate to push you, but this just got real urgent." Steve looked grave, and Rae knew that he was hurting over this. Nobody liked a child killer, but how somebody could kill two youngsters, well, it defied belief.

"I can do the preliminary examination in about an hour, and I can let you have all your information by about 10.00 tomorrow."

"Yeah, that'll be fine, we'll be at the station by then, you can call us there with your findings."

"Actually I won't" said Rae quietly. "I promised Susan Marlow that I would attend Hana's funeral. I hope that's OK."

"Look I know this is hard, and I don't know how I would cope if this was CJ or Dion, or one of their friends. But you will catch the person responsible, all the clues you need are out there."

"Thanks Amanda, we just feel angry and helpless at the moment, reaction I guess." Steve smiled a small smile at his friend. 

Rae looked across and said "CJ and Dion, are they your children Amanda?"

Amanda smiled, always happy to talk about her boys. "CJ is mine, I fostered Dion a while back, he's had a rocky past, but we're getting along fine now. I tell you what why don't you come over for dinner tonight, and you can meet them. I bet they would love to hear what it's like to live in London, so would I for that matter."

Rae cheered up instantly, "I would love to, what time is it now?" Rae was surprised to see that she had been at the hospital for almost three hours.  

"I'm going to go back to the station to start making enquiries, Rae do you need a lift?" Steve stood up, stretched his arms up high above his head, made Rae feel about three inches tall and then turned to face the door. 

"Actually I don't, I am now the proud owner of my own set of wheels." Rae smiled as she thought of her little car.  "I'll just be a minute, I need to get Amanda's address and directions on how to get there. I'll meet you back at the station."

As Steve headed out of the door, Amanda and Rae decided that the best thing would be for Rae to return to the hospital when her shift was over, then she could pick up any initial findings that Amanda had, and follow her home so that there would be no possibility of her getting lost.

The rest of the day seemed to speed by and Rae was drawing up outside Amanda's house in no time at all. The house was very pleasant, and as Rae hung up her jacket she could see the signs that two young boys lived here. There were cars, baseballs and a couple of computer games lying on the table by the stairs. Rae smiled and thought of her own boys. No chance of seeing a baseball in their house, but even her eldest son who was 18 still had model cars, and both boys spent hours playing on computer games. _At least I think they still do,_ she thought, suddenly sad, _things might have changed since I last spent any real time with them._ Rae shook her head and turned to face Amanda who was staring at her with concern on her face.

"Rae, are you all right?"

"Sorry Amanda, it's just that seeing the things belonging to your boys made me think of my own sons. I miss them you know."

Amanda smiled, "I know, I miss my boys when they go to stay with my mother, or if I am working on a difficult case and they have to stay with the sitter."

Rae smiled back, "Then, when they're causing havoc all around the house you wish they would leave you alone for a while. I guess we're never satisfied are we?"

Suddenly there was a commotion at the top of the stairs and two children came rushing down, each trying to get to the bottom first. The smaller of the two boys arrived smiling and triumphant. "Hey Mom, I got two extra credit marks today!"

"CJ that's wonderful, well done son!" Amanda's smile was a big as her son's. The pride shone in her eyes. She looked over at the other boy and said "How was your day Dion?"

"Not at good as CJ's, no credits, but I finished that work I was doing on the computer, I need your email address for the next lesson, so that I can send you a message."

Rae looked over at Amanda and then said, "If it's alright with your Mum I could send an email to your class from the police station, would you like that?"

Dion grinned. "What from you and Uncle Steve, you're his new partner while Cheryl is away aren't you?"

Amanda smiled. "Sorry Rae, this is CJ, and this is Dion."

Rae held out her hand and shook hands with each boy in turn. "I'm very pleased to meet you both."

Amanda's sitter came down the stairs much more sedately and Amanda walked her to the door. She returned just in time to hear Dion ask.

"Are you really from England?"

"Yep, I normally work for Scotland Yard in London. So living in California is a big treat for me. Do you know I've been here for 5 days, and it hasn't rained yet! I get drowned regularly in England. Funny it normally starts to rain just as the schools come out, but only on the days that I get to do the school run!"

"Come on boys, let's go and get the meal on. Rae has an early start tomorrow, so she won't want to be here too late."

"What can I do Amanda?" Rae followed her new friend out into the kitchen, where there were paintings stuck on the cupboards, and football boots by the back door. 

"You're our guest, Rae, the boys and I can take care of it." But Rae wasn't having that; she wanted to join in, to feel that she was part of things again. She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and shook her head.

"Oh no, I'm more than happy to help."

"Well, we're having meatloaf, which I made last weekend and froze. It's defrosting in the refrigerator, with beans, carrots and potato. Then a cheat's pudding, I've some chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I hope that'll be OK."

"That sounds wonderful. Shall I peel the spuds?"

"Yeah sure, have I got any of them, no wait I know, potatoes, right?" Amanda looked a little bemused.

"You got it." Rae picked up the potato peeler, looked at it. "Err have you got a small sharp knife?" 

Amanda looked over at the peeler in her hand, and then she smiled. "Not another lefty! Here you go, be careful, I'm off duty you know!"

The two women started preparing the vegetables for the meal, Rae realised that she was enjoying Amanda's company a great deal. She hoped that it was reciprocated. As she put the last potato into the saucepan she turned to Amanda and said "You know you mentioned that shopping trip – well I checked my shifts, how does next Thursday sound to you?" Suddenly her courage failed her, "That is if you still want to go, I'll understand if you've changed your mind."

Amanda put up her hand "Whoa girl. Thursday is good for me, unless there's an emergency, but I know that's the same for you anyway. Afternoon OK? My sitter will pick the boys up from school. If I get her to drop them at BBQ Bobs we could have a meal there as a nice finish up to the trip."

"That sounds great. I'll have to buy some LA type things to send to my children, so I could do that at the same time."

The evening progressed very pleasantly. The boys weren't shy and the conversation flowed. After the misunderstanding over the potatoes they wanted to know all the different names that Rae called things.

"Tap" said Rae, There was silence, no guesses were forthcoming. "I think you call that a faucet," said Rae with a smile.

"Yours sure is easier to spell," said CJ with feeling. "I know you call automobiles, um cars right?"

"That's right. Let's try another one. What do babies wear?"

"Ugh, diapers!" said Dion, "and they suck pacifiers."

"I'd forgotten that one, they're called dummies, and diapers are called nappies. You know there are hundreds of differences between your English and mine, but we both speak the same language. In fact there are differences between the regions in the UK."

Rae smiled at the boys. 

"OK," said Dion, "What about food?"

"Well, take tonight's meal for instance. Meatloaf isn't something that we have very often, if at all, in England, well I don't. I used to eat a lot of pasta, spaghetti bolognaise, that sort of thing. You have a far wider availability here, but I suppose L.A. is a huge place. Until I moved to London, I hadn't even had a Chinese takeaway, but I did live in a small village that only had a butchers, village shop…"

"Store" said Dion with a smile

"Village store, newsagents and a chippy." Rae smiled. "Boy, did I live a sheltered life!"

"What's a chippy, somewhere that sells potato chips?" 

"Well yes CJ, but potato chips here are called crisps in England. Chips to me are fries to you."

"I think that is enough for tonight – remember I said that Rae has an early start in the morning? Well, if we don't break it up soon, it will be morning!"

Rae got up and started to clear the table, Amanda put a hand on her arm and said, "No, honestly, it's fine, I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as the boys and I have."

Rae smiled. "It's been lovely, when I finally get myself settled, I promise I'll return the favour."

Rae and Amanda headed out into the hall and Rae shrugged on her jacket. "All I have to do now is find the way home." Amanda looked a little concerned. "I was joking, I really do have a pretty good idea where I'm going, and if I get lost, well I'll just keep going until I run out of land!"

As it was, it didn't come to that. Once again Rae had the map on the passenger seat, but she hardly needed it. It seemed no time at all before she was letting herself into the beach house and trying not to think about the fact that the next time she left would be to attend Hana's funeral.

Mark and Steve were chatting in the kitchen as Rae came up the stairs. "Hi Rae, how was your evening?" 

Mark saw her before she saw him, as she jumped she spun around and said, "That's twice today you have made me jump! It was great thank you. Amanda has two lovely boys and a very happy home, I had a very enjoyable time. I hope it won't be too long before I can be a hostess as well."

Rae sniffed the mug of herbal tea that Steve handed her. "Chamomile, lovely thanks."

"Not the word I would have used, but you're welcome. What are you planning for the morning? I know it's Hana's funeral at 10.00am, which is about the time that Amanda should have Terry's details ready. I think that we need to sit down and go over what information we have before that, and then afterwards go on over and interview Mrs Tennant and then move on to speak to Mrs Morris again." Steve saw Rae's puzzled look. "Mrs Morris, the lady who found the body of Terry Tennant."

"There's no break from this is there?" said Rae sadly. "I'll just get up and make my own way to the precinct, we can meet there. Will that be OK?" Steve nodded and with that Rae turned and slowly left the kitchen, as she did so he noticed that she had lost the happy mood she had come home with. 

Mark and Steve stared after her. "What a case to start her career in L.A. with," said Mark slowly. 

"Yeah, I hate this, and I've been here forever!" Steve stared after his partner and wished that he could help, but he knew he couldn't, he also knew that if he had children of his own, especially if he couldn't protect them, he would feel worse than he already did. Steve wandered over to the phone, picked it up and without appearing to think at all, dialled a number.

Rae sat on the edge of her bed and sipped her tea. She got up and opened the wardrobe. She looked at the few items hanging up there. Thank goodness she had bought her black suit with her. She reached in and took the coat hanger out and hung it on the back of the door to let the creases drop completely. She looked over at it and shook her head. _I hate funerals she thought. _

Rae wandered into the bathroom slipped out of her jeans and her top and got ready to start her shower. Ten minutes later she was still in there. Her hands were flat on the wall in front of her and she let the water beat down on her back and shoulders. Slowly her knotted muscles loosened. She had been quite relaxed while she was at Amanda's but as soon as she began to listen to Steve talking about tomorrow all the tension had started to return.

Rae sat on the floor in the bathroom and tried to do some basic yoga positions, just to relax her enough that she could slip off to sleep reasonably quickly. After 20 minutes she got up, feeling better than she had. She stuck her tongue out at herself in the mirror, ran her fingers through her hair, which made it stick up, half wet, half dry then she returned to the bedroom. As she wandered around the bed to find her book and her nightclothes she smoothed down the jacket of her suit and felt something in the pocket. She slipped her hand inside and took out a very dead white flower. 

Suddenly the strength went out of her legs, she stumbled back onto the bed, looking at the flower in her hand. She let out a half sob and the tears started to fall. As she felt herself losing a hold of the control she had tried so hard to hang onto there was a knock at the door.

"Just a minute," she grabbed her t-shirt and a pair of jogging bottoms, slipped them on and opened the door. Two cans of cola and a large bag of potato crisps _no chips she thought, were in front of her eyes, behind them was the smiling and very welcome face of Jesse._

"Hey, how y'doin'?"  Jesse stopped talking, he saw Rae's tear stained face, looked over his shoulder and shook his head, he came in the room, put down his gifts and held out his arms to Rae. She gratefully leant into his body and let the sobs come. Jesse said nothing; he just smoothed down her silly hairstyle and waited. 

Finally Rae took a deep breath, forced out a little smile, turned to Jesse and said "Thank you so much, I am sorry, what a welcome!" 

"That's what friends are for, and I think right now you could do with one, Rae what happened?"

"Nothing happened, well not right now anyway. It's just that I put my hand in the pocket of the suit I am going to wear tomorrow to Hana's funeral and found this." She held out her hand, the bloom, which had started life as a carnation, was now very crushed; slowly she traced a finger over the remnants of the flower. "The last time I wore this suit, I buried my Dad. I didn't know this was in the pocket, I took it off the wreath I sent for him." The tears threatened to overwhelm her again. "I lied to you the other day, it wasn't only my divorce that sent me heading for the Hollywood Hills, it was losing my Dad as well." 

"When did he die?" Jesse's voice was full of concern, but the doctor took over, "and what from?"

Rae took a deep breath, "He died four months ago, I'd discussed the possibility of coming here with him, he thought I should go for it, so when he died, I decided that I would do just that. But it's hard Jesse, he was a wonderful man. He died from a heart attack it was really sudden, and I miss him. I didn't even get to say goodbye." She gulped and leant into Jesse again, but this time the comfort she sought was different, she felt safe and secure in his arms, _these people, I don't know what it is about them, but all of a sudden my life seems stronger, better, safer, even with all the terrible things that are also in it. She smiled up at Jesse, and touched his face.  Jesse leant down, and once again found her lips. He was getting to like this, and by Rae's response, he guessed she was as well. Suddenly they heard a discreet cough outside the room. They leapt back from each other, as if they had been caught behind the bike sheds, and Rae opened the door. _

Steve was standing there, with a worried look on his face, "Are you alright Rae, we heard crying."

"Yeah, sorry, some memories resurfaced without warning. It was lucky for me that Jesse knocked when he did."

"I rang him, Rae, I thought you needed a friendly face, and maybe a shoulder, looks like I was right. I'll leave you two alone. See you in the morning, Rae, sleep tight."

Rae shut the door and wondered why she felt like a 16-year-old caught necking. She smiled in spite of herself and turned back to Jesse. He was lying back on the bed looking up at the ceiling. She sat on the side of the bed, and he pulled her down to join him. Soon all the problems of the day had completely floated away, they kissed and talked for a while, until Jesse realised that Rae's breathing had turned even and deep. He slipped his arm out from under her shoulders, turned off the light and quietly left the beach house. Now all the inhabitants were fast asleep, and the worries and concerns of the day were out of reach.


	4. Thursday

**Suffer Little Children**

**Thursday**

By six o'clock the next morning Steve was in the shower downstairs, Rae was telling herself that she should be in the shower upstairs, and Mark was heading for the coffee pot. The day was overcast, in fact as Rae looked out of the window, she thought, _maybe I bought this with me after all, still it's the right weather for today, and she turned towards the bathroom._

She didn't linger in the shower; she needed to get her thoughts and her notes in order before she sat down with Steve to go over what they had so far. Nice as the very end of her evening had been, she had missed out on what she called her thinking time, normally about 15 minutes after she turned off the light, when she just let all her thoughts run together, it was amazing what you could sort out that way, and at the moment she needed all the help she could get! 

Rae headed out towards the kitchen, with her suit hanging over her arm. She had chosen a white shirt to go with the suit, mainly because it was quite new, and she hadn't worn it to her Dad's funeral. Mark smiled at her, "Are you OK this morning sweetie? You sounded so upset last night."

"Yes thanks Mark; I found a carnation in the pocket of my jacket. The last time I wore this suit was at my father's funeral. I hadn't realised it was in there, and it just knocked me for six."  Mark smiled at Rae, and she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned around and saw Steve smiling down at her. "Steve, thank you so much for calling Jesse last night, that was so thoughtful."

"Hey, it was nothing, although I must admit I didn't realise just how much you were going to need him!"

Rae smiled and went into the kitchen, as she passed by the work surface she saw her 'To Do List' from the day before, she decided to cross off 'buy car' and picked it up. As she looked at it her eyes grew as wide as saucers, written on the piece of paper was 'No. 2. Get Singing Lessons – Please!' Rae knew the writing, she had filed enough of it away to recognise it for the rest of her life. She looked up "You were downstairs, when I was singing – and I use the term loosely – oh my!" Rae was speechless. She was turning crimson, she could feel it creep up her face. 

Steve said nothing; he just smiled at her, and picked up a cup of coffee. There were all sorts of wise cracks going round in his mind, but he knew from the look on Rae's face that now was not the time.

She picked up a piece of toast and turned towards the door, "I have to go and buy some flowers on my way to work, so I will meet you there, OK?" Rae picked up her bag and her suit and waving over her shoulder with her breakfast she gratefully left the house. 

Steve's eyes followed her out. "I get the impression that there is a lot to Ms Yeager, and I think we are all going to enjoy finding out what it all is. Well I had better be going, I'll see you tonight Dad, have a good day."

Steve went back down to his apartment and picked up his dark suit. He wasn't sure yet if he would go to the funeral, he got the feeling that the invitation had only been extended to Rae, but it was better to have the suit with him, just in case.  He took one last look around the room and as he turned to face the door, caught site of himself in the mirror, they needed a break in this case, he was looking older by the minute.

Shrugging into his jacket Steve walked out to his car. He hung his suit in the back and climbed in. He started the engine, pulled away and waited to join the traffic. As he drove along it seemed to Steve that everybody he saw somehow reminded him of the case, he saw mothers taking their children to school, either holding tightly to their hands, or watching them as they ran ahead. He smiled, knowing that Rae would just stand still and wait for her child to come back to her, he had a feeling that it would never occur either to her or her offspring that this would not happen, hey even **he** had come back! He slowed down as a school bus pulled out of a side road and kids of various ages stuck their tongue's out, or waved, or worse. 

Steve turned off the freeway, and his thoughts began to form around how he wanted the day to proceed. He and Rae needed to sit down, without any interruptions and sort out what they had so far. They hadn't checked the report that had come in from Mrs. Morris; they would need to do that before they went to interview her. They needed to get in touch with Hana's school, but they had purposely left that until after the funeral, Steve was sure that there would be members of the teaching staff there, and he wanted Rae to see how they reacted. They had also left Hana's friends until after the funeral, but not for the same reason. It would be traumatic enough for them to know that their friend was going to be buried without having to worry about the police as well. Hopefully by the time they saw them, probably tomorrow or Sunday they would have at least got the trauma of this morning out of the way.

Steve's thoughts had taken him right into the police parking lot. He stopped in his regular spot and headed for the main doors. He saw a very red car out of the corner of his eye, but thought nothing of it. 

"Morning Lieutenant," said the Desk Sergeant, as he entered the building.

"Morning Bob, is Detective Yeager in yet?"

"Yep, beat you by about 5 minutes, friendly lady isn't she? Do you know how Cheryl's getting on in London?" They had both known the Desk Sergeant for many years. 

"I imagine she's doing fine, I must admit this case hasn't given me much time to contact her, but I will do. Rae's a good cop, but I miss Cheryl." Steve headed for the stairs. As he walked through the door he could see that she was concentrating on the paper she held in her hand. She pushed her free hand through her hair and then made a few notes on the pad in front of her.

"Good morning Rae, long time no see." Steve smiled as he moved towards his desk. Rae had used the previous five minutes to send the email she had promised to Dion and his classmates. Steve looked down, it was Thursday; so it had only been two clear days since they had tackled the filing, why was it then that he was having trouble seeing his desktop already? He glanced over to Rae and saw that Cheryl's desk was still tidy. "Have you been putting all the paperwork on my desk Detective?"

"No, I just keep mine neat and tidy. I promised Cheryl that I would keep her desk clear, and I always try to keep my promises." 

Well, I think I will join you at your desk, and we can go over what we know. What time are you planning to leave for the funeral?" 

"Well, it starts at 10.00 am. I wasn't planning to get there more than a few minutes before hand. I don't think I look like a cop, but everybody always seems to pick me out, so I'm hoping I can just slide in at the back and hope nobody notices."

"I want you to see, if you can, what kind of reaction the adults at the funeral have. We know that it wasn't the parents, but it could be somebody that Hana knew. Tomorrow we can go and get a list of her friends from her mother; we can compare it to a list from Tommy's mother and see if any names stand out. They went to the same school, maybe they were friends." 

Steve was rolling now, he didn't know why this case was taking a while to gel, maybe it was because Amanda couldn't give them a positive I.D. on the type of weapon used or maybe it was because he still hadn't gotten used to working with Rae, nor she with him, let's face it, they had only been together about half an hour when the call came in. Not ideal, in fact considering the fact that a week ago neither of them had known the other one existed they weren't doing too badly.  Steve shook himself mentally and carried on.

"Mrs Miller, we need to go and see her this afternoon. I think we should go and see Terry's mom first and then we can go on from there. What do you think?"

It seemed as if Rae had been reading this thoughts. "I think that considering we have only known each other about 4 days we aren't doing too badly. I felt I was pushing against the tide yesterday, but we do have to take this slowly. There are a lot of fragile people involved in this and we have to tread really carefully." Rae paused. "I also think that I need to go and get changed and make my way to Hana's funeral.  I'll go back to the house if they ask me to, but not for long and I'll come back here if you don't mind so that I can change out of the suit before we head off again. I should be back by 1.00 pm. Would you mind phoning Mrs. Tennant, I suppose that's her name, or has she re-married, so that she knows that we're coming, and if you get the time could you get some more of that gunk for the teeth."

Steve slammed his palm down on the table, Rae for the third time in two days nearly jumped out of her skin, she had no idea what she had said to make Steve so angry, perhaps he didn't do the phoning, maybe Cheryl did. "What did I say Sir? I'm sorry if I offended you."

"I knew I forgot something when I was questioning Terry's Dad, I just couldn't think what it was. We didn't do his teeth!"

"Hey, I forgot to ask which school Hana went too. This case has got us both spooked. We're both working with a new partner, one of whom can't get to the front gate without directions and we know that we have been doing this for four days and haven't got as far as we want to with it. Stop knocking yourself out Lieutenant, we **will** solve this."

Rae got up from the desk. Picked up all her pieces of paper, tapped them neatly into a rectangle and placed them in the filing tray. They she picked up her suit and headed for the ladies room. Steve stared after her then he went back to his desk and picked up the phone.

"Mark Sloan here, oh, hi Steve, what can I do for you?" Mark listened for a moment, "Yeah, OK I'll meet you in Amanda's lab then, and I'll bring Jesse, you know it'll be impossible for me to keep him away."

Steve waited until Rae returned to the squad room. As she walked across the room he realised why Mrs Marlow wanted Rae to be at the funeral. Steve was aware that she was psyched up and ready to go. She was standing erect, and looked a good inch taller than she had before. Her hair was neatly combed; he guessed that there would be no fingers raking through it for a while. But mostly she looked efficient and approachable, she looked like somebody that you could trust with your problems and that was what Susan Marlow needed right now, what she'd seen the first time she'd met Rae as she walked across the ER. She returned to her desk, picked up a cone of paper that held some freesias, took a deep breath of their beautiful scent, turned to Steve smiled slightly and left the office.

Steve picked up his jacket and started out of the squad room, then he turned back to his desk, picked up the papers he had been writing on, and put them in his filing tray. He turned once again and left. 

From his office across the hall, the Chief looked out at his squad room and smiled to himself. 

Steve arrived at Community General about the same time as Rae arrived at the Church; he went down to Amanda's lab and walked in. Mark and Jesse were there as well, as was Alex, "Hey Steve, ah, how is Rae this morning?"

"Better Jess, thanks for coming over last night. I didn't know what was going to happen but she was glad that you were there, and so was I." Steve smiled at his friend, and realised that he wouldn't have been able to deal with the situation as Jesse had, because he was sure that Rae wouldn't have opened up to him, not yet any way.

Alex smiled at Jesse, "So, are you seeing her again tonight then?" At that moment the tannoy blared.

"Dr. Alex Martin to the ER, Dr. Alex Martin to the ER."

"Hey, later guys." 

"Yeah, see you Alex" Steve raised his hand as the young man left the room.

Jess smiled. "I sure hope so, but I thought I'd better let her get this morning out of the way before I asked her." 

Steve grinned, "Sensitivity thy name is Travis"

Mark cleared his throat. "What did you want to see us about son?"

"Well, I needed the autopsy report on Terry Tennant, but it's more than that. It's this case it's moving too slowly; because of its nature we have to tread carefully. Not only do we have grieving families, but also the friends of the victims are all about 9 or 10 years old. We wanted to wait until the funeral was over to talk to them, but then we had another victim, which made it more urgent, there will be another funeral next week, I don't still want to be waiting when that one takes place. Am I making any sense?"

"Surprisingly, yes." It was Amanda who spoke. "I've had this case going around in my head too. I didn't want to talk about it when Rae came to dinner, it's a terrible case to have to start with, and she seemed to relax as the evening went on. But when I let myself go over what you had I kept coming up against things that would slow everybody down, the same things you said."

Steve felt a little better.

"Son, you can't go about this case in the same way as you would an ordinary murder case. Even the fact that it seems that you have a serial killer on your hands has to take a back seat to the fact that there are innocent children involved here. You have a couple of complete sets of teeth marks on both bodies. They were definitely killed by the same person. That's as good as a fingerprint. Once Hana's funeral is over I have a feeling that this case will speed up a good bit."

"And if not, I can always find you a coupla extra shifts at Bob's." said Jesse with a smile.

Steve smiled back. "Thanks guys, I knew that you would re-direct me again. I'm missing Cheryl too. I like Rae, don't get me wrong, but Cheryl and I have worked together for so long, and on cases like this, well you need that."

"Steve, why don't you email Cheryl? I'm sure that Rae won't have a problem with that and she may be able to help even from all those miles away." Mark looked at his son. His eyes were gentle. He knew Steve had been missing Cheryl. He had often hoped that their relationship would move on to something stronger, but if she was going to be away for 12 months then he guessed that wouldn't happen now.

Steve was suddenly energised. "Hey I will. Oh, before I go, can I have a couple of those dental kits again? It'll save me keep having to come back here."

"Oh and what is wrong with coming here then, do you get better company elsewhere?" Jesse was trying to sound serious, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it. "Steve, will you tell Rae that I'll phone her about 6.00 pm?"

Steve nodded as he turned to leave the room. "Bye guys, and thanks again." He smiled as he walked along the corridor. That was another thing that had been wrong. He didn't usually leave it 4 days before filling in his friends on his cases and asking their opinion_. Rae doesn't need babysitting he thought. __I have to carry on as usual, and it will all fall into place again. He got into the elevator and headed for the canteen. He wasn't sure if Terry's dad would be at work, but it was a convenient place to start._

Mr. Tennant was sitting at a table on his break when he entered, he stared straight at Steve as he walked across the room. Steve stood by his table, hoping to be invited to sit. When no invitation was forthcoming, he placed his hands on the surface and began to speak.  "I hope that you will forgive the intrusion Mr. Tennant, but I need to speak to you further, and to get some additional information from you."

"Sure, what do you want to know?" 

Steve could tell that he was going to get no voluntary information from this man. He couldn't understand what the problem was. _OK, bad choice of words, he thought, __he has a problem I can't begin to comprehend, but why doesn't he want to help us – he's almost hindering us. _

"I don't wish to upset you any more than you already are" Steve realised that he sounded hollow, he had to try to feel some empathy for this man, "Your son was bitten before he was killed, we need to take a mould of your teeth, so that we can eliminate you from our enquiries. I have the kit, I can do it here, probably in one of the trauma rooms upstairs, so that you have some privacy Mr. Tennant, I'm sorry I don't know your first name."

"Lee, OK then, lets get it over and done with, I have to be back in the kitchen in five minutes." Mr. Tennant headed for the elevator with Steve following along behind him. He realised that he had balled both his hands into fists. He consciously tried to relax as he entered the elevator and pressed the button, _come on Sloan, you don't have to like the guy, just do your job._

Steve led the way out of the elevator and headed towards Trauma Two, when he realised where the Lieutenant was going Lee Tennant stopped walking. "No, not that one. He died in there, my only child died in there!"

Steve did a double take, and turned and entered Trauma One, luckily it was quiet and he had a choice of rooms. He didn't know how to take this man who seemed so unfeeling, and then said something like that, but then everybody dealt with tragedy in different ways, he had no idea how he would cope with something like this happening to him.

Mr. Tennant sat down on the bed and Steve began once again to undertake the unpleasant procedure. _I'll never underestimate the dentist again. He felt guilty about thinking like that, but he knew that it was what helped keep him sane._

As Lee Tennant went back down to the canteen _and a large black coffee no doubt thought Steve, he headed towards Amanda's lab with his grey goo. Once he had handed it over and picked up Terry's autopsy report he would go back to his desk and try to prepare to go and meet another grieving mother._

Across town, Rae had left her car, she'd suddenly felt guilty that it was such a bright colour, and had tried to park it in between two big cars so that nobody would notice it. Then she headed for the church. As she walked in Susan Marlow spotted her, in fact it looked as if she had been waiting for her.

"Detective Yeager, thank you so much for coming. We just heard that another child has been killed, is that true?"

Rae nodded her head. "We will get the person who has done this, but now is not the time to talk about it. I'll just slide in at the back, I don't want to embarrass or upset anyone by my presence."

"Nonsense, I won't hear of it," then Susan Marlow lowered her voice, "I was hoping that you could help me out a little." When Rae nodded she continued "Could you please sit with my husband's mother? I know it's an imposition, but I just can't deal with her right now."

"Of course, just point her out, if you'll introduce her to me, it'll be my pleasure to help."

Rae was directed down the aisle of the church and a woman of about 75 was indicated. She was dressed from head to foot in severe, starched black, with an almost regal amount of black lace on her hat. Rae slid in next to the woman and her daughter in law touched the woman on the arm. "Mother, this is Detective Reagan Yeager, she is the Detective in charge of finding Hana's killer. _Oh Steve would love that one,  thought Rae. Detective this is Mary Marlow, George's mother." She was surprised at how together Susan Marlow was. __Poor woman must be taking something strong to get her through today. She turned to greet the woman next to her._

"Hello, I'm sorry we're meeting like this, I hope you don't feel that I'm intruding on your grief." Rae had no real idea what to say to this woman. 

"You know, she was my only grand daughter. I didn't see much of her; in fact I hadn't seen her since her eighth birthday. I haven't been well, and my son, George, he is always so busy you know, Susan she has her committees, and the children to look after." The woman tried to stifle a sob. Rae put her arm around the woman's shoulders and hoped it was the right thing to do. She could understand why Susan Marlow was finding this so difficult. She was holding herself together, but she couldn't do it for somebody else. _You know they should have people to do this sort of thing at funerals. She didn't know why she was thinking like that. She gave herself a mental shake and turned to face the old lady sitting next to her, quietly crying. _

"You know grandma's are special people. It doesn't matter how often a child sees them, as long as they know they are there somewhere, it makes them feel good." As she said it she thought of her own mother, _I wonder how long it is since the children went to see her, or their other grandmother for that matter._

"And George, what was he thinking?" Mary Marlow carried on as if Rae hadn't spoken. "Just when Susan and Josh need him to be strong for them, he lets them down, I can't believe I've lived long enough to see a day like this for our family." 

Rae took a breath, and was just about to reply when the organ started to play. As she turned round Rae saw a small white coffin being carried down the length of the church and the air around her began to fill with sobs.

The service was not very long. Hana's homeroom teacher Ms Howard spoke a few words about her pupil, Josh read a few pages from one of her favourite books, the choir from her school sang 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' and not long after that it was over.

Rae walked out of the church with Mary Marlow, and spotted Josh. She walked over to him and said quietly "Josh, could you talk to your grandmother for a little while?" and then she headed over to where the schoolteacher was standing.

Rae extended her hand and said "Ms Howard, that must have been very difficult for you." 

The woman in front of her was tall, and quite thin Rae couldn't help comparing her outfit to that of Hana's grandmother. She knew that Ms Howard was quite young, early 40's probably, but all that flowing black chiffon, _still, each to her own she thought. The teacher had a firm handshake, and Rae was sure that she had an equally firm presence in the classroom. "You know it must almost be like loosing a member of your extended family when something terrible like this happens."_

The teacher nodded and said quietly, "Yes, I never in my life thought I would have to do that. I was honoured to be asked of course, but I hope I never have to go through it again but I may have to now that Terry has been murdered as well. I was his teacher for a while, when he needed extra help with his reading!"

Rae was almost speechless Hana and Terry had shared a teacher, at least for a while. Rae tried to compose herself a little. "I'm sorry to bring this up at this time, but my name is Detective Yeager, would it be convenient if my partner and myself were to come into school tomorrow and speak with you?"

Ms Howard looked a little taken aback, but she recovered quickly. "Yes, yes of course, you could come either before school starts, or just after break when I have a free period."

Having made this arrangement, Rae went back over to Mrs. Marlow who was still talking to Josh. Rae nodded at them and carried on walking until she spied George and Susan. She walked up to them and smiled at them both. "I am glad you're up and about Mr. Marlow, how are you feeling?"

"Not too bad. Detective. We weren't sure if you would have time to come back to the house or not, so we have made up a list of Hana's friends. We thought you would probably want to speak to them. She was friendly with a lot of children, but she only had three really close friends. We've put her best friend at the top, and then the other two names underneath, she wasn't like some little girls, she kept the same friends, some girls seem to change friends almost hourly." George smiled a small smile. Rae took the list from him and glanced down at it. They had just save her from what she had thought might be an awkward moment. There were three girl's names on the piece of paper, her daughter was the same, boys were just something to be tolerated, and certainly not liked! _Give her a few years, no I don't want to go there! _

"Thank you so much, this will be a great help. No I won't come to the house if you don't mind. I would like to get this back to Lieutenant Sloan right away. You both have our number, if you think of anything, or if you just want to talk, please don't hesitate to call. If there's no answer we'll get back to you."

Rae smiled once more and then she turned to leave the church. She suddenly realised that she was still holding the flowers she had bought. She went back to Susan Marlow and said, "Could you please place these on Hana's grave for me? Tell her I'm working very hard for her." Suddenly Rae knew that she had to leave. She didn't wait to hear if Susan replied she just started walking. She tried not to run, but really she just wanted to bolt out of the place and into the safety of her little red car.

She sat gasping for air, trying to control her breathing, _yoga, think yoga, come on girl, pull yourself together. She had left the church, but she had parked up again the first chance she had. Slowly she calmed herself down and got ready to go back to the station to meet up with Steve. Before she pulled back out into the traffic she got her phone out__ cell phone, think cell phone, and called Jesse's number._

"Hi, this is Jesse Travis, I can't take your call at …… hello, hello," Jesse's voice suddenly cut over the message.

"Jess? It's Rae,"

"Hey, I was just thinking about you, did the funeral finish yet?"

"Yes, I'm just on my way back to meet up with Steve, listen, I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you doing anything this evening?" 

"No, why, what did you have in mind?" Rae could hear the smile in Jesse's voice, and in spite of herself found herself smiling in response.

"Something different, something to get me away from this. I know, I have always wanted to go to a drive-in movie, could we do that?"

Jesse laughed out loud, "Wow, I haven't been to one of those for ages! Right it's a date, I will pick you up at 7.00pm from the Beach House, we can get popcorn and soda and pretend we're 18 again!"

"Bye Jess, and thanks". Rae felt better as she put her phone away again. She smiled to herself as she headed back to the precinct and the matter at hand.

Steve was just pouring himself another cup of coffee when Rae entered the room. She smiled at him, put a packet of sandwiches down on her desk, picked up her jeans and shirt and headed for the ladies room. She felt that she couldn't wait another minute to get out of the suit. 10 minutes later the transformation had been reversed, and Rae was back in street mode. Her jeans and light blue t-shirt felt much more comfortable and she sat down at her desk and looked over at her partner.

"How did it go?" asked Steve, concern etched on his face, "I guess not too well, by the speed you got out of that suit." 

_Handsome, perceptive, and still single. Stop it, Rae, focus! "I was fine, until I knew I could leave, and then I just couldn't get out of there fast enough. I did meet Hana's teacher though, quite a nice woman, but I would think she would intimidate the children. She was Terry Tennant's teacher as well, just for a while, because he had problems with his reading." Rae concentrated on her sandwiches as Steve reacted to that piece of information, which he obviously hadn't heard before._

 "At last, something's moving. When are we seeing the teacher?"

"I arranged it for tomorrow morning, she has a free period after break. Do you know when break is? I didn't like to show my ignorance. It was 10.45 at my daughter's school." Rae stood up. "Let's go and see Terry's Mum, I would hate to have to keep on waiting knowing the police were going to turn up sometime. Lets get it over for all of us."

Steve smiled at her and said, your car, or mine? I haven't seen yours yet, what's it like?" 

"Well we can go in mine if you like, are we going to come back here, after seeing Mrs. Miller? Only I've got a date tonight, 7.00 ish." Rae smiled at Steve, wondering what he would think of her car.

"Would that be with a certain vertically challenged Doctor?" 

Rae gasped and then laughed. "I bet you wouldn't say that to his face." 

Steve laughed, "No, it would go straight over it!" Laughing together the two detectives left the building and headed towards the parking lot. Steve let Rae take the lead, as he had no idea what car she had bought. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Rae take out her keys to open the door of a, well he didn't know what_._

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Sorry Rae, it's a two car trip, I am **not** turning up in that, that, overgrown tomato!"

"Hey that's it," Rae didn't seem at all insulted. "I'd been wondering what to call it. I shall call my car Tom, and if you don't want to travel in it that's fine by me," and she turned to get into Tom. Turning back towards Steve she smiled and said quietly, "Could you lead the way Lieutenant?"

Steve nodded and headed back towards his nice quiet silver grey car. He left the parking lot and smiled _at least I'll know she's still behind me._

The little convoy didn't take long to get to the house of Terry Tennant. Rae looked at the front of the house. It wasn't as meticulously cared for at the Marlow property, but it was obvious that the person living here tried her best with the garden and the paintwork. Suddenly there was a loud shout and the sound of breaking glass. Rae flung herself behind her car. She heard Steve call out. "What the … hold it, Police." He had his gun out, but he wasn't chasing anyone. Rae crept around the back of the two vehicles and looked at the damage to Steve's car. 

"What happened?" 

Steve spun round as he holstered his gun. "Someone just threw a rock through my window. I don't believe it, I wasn't even doing anything, and if they're going to ruin a car, why didn't they aim at your tomato?"

"I shall pretend you didn't say that, I guess mine doesn't look like a police car. So now what do we do?"

"I'll have to phone this in. I can't leave it out here like this. Look you go in and interview Mrs. Tennant, I guess we'll have to go to Mrs. Miller's house in your car together after all. Oh my day just keeps getting better and better!"

Rae decided that silence would probably her best bet. She collected her things out of the car, smiled at Steve and as she walked up the path she said over her shoulder. "See you later partner. Come in when they have towed your car," she couldn't resist adding "Oh, and look after Tom for me!"

Rae rang the doorbell and waited. She could hear movement inside, then a voice called out, "Who is it?"

"It's the police Mrs. Tennant, please could I come in? I need to speak to you privately."

"It's open, just come straight in." 

The room that Rae entered was dark, mainly because the curtains were tightly drawn. Rae smiled down at the woman sitting on a dark brown chair. "Hi, my name is Detective Yeager, I'm sorry to intrude on your grief, but I really need to ask you some questions." Rae looked around the room. It was difficult to get her bearings. There wasn't much furniture in the room, just a couple of chairs, a dining table and a T.V., which was on, although Rae guessed that Mrs. Tennant had not been watching it, it just provided background noise.

"Weren't there going to be two of you? I spoke to a man on the phone." Mrs Tennant spoke in a flat voice.

"Lieutenant Sloan, he's outside, somebody threw a rock through his car window, he's waiting for the tow truck."

"Oh." Rae knew that Mrs. Tennant wasn't really interested. 

Mrs. Tennant was a large woman. She filled the chair; she was wearing a pair of blue overalls and a striped shirt. When she stood up she towered over Rae. She had bleached blonde hair, which was scrapped back into a clip. Rae gestured for her to sit back down. She felt more comfortable that way, more in control of the situation.

"Mrs. Tennant, I know that this is a very hard time for you, but I really need to get some information from you. I know that Terry went to St. Mary's. Did he know a little girl called Hana Marlow?"

"Hana, yes, he knew her, they weren't close friends, but she came to his last party, that would be when he was 8, I couldn't afford one the past two years. They want so much don't they, and everything is so expensive. He got a Gameboy from his Dad last week. He was thrilled with it. When you are an only child it can get a bit lonely." 

Rae felt her heart sink a little lower. This woman would be completely on her own now. No husband and no child. _Life stank._

"Do you think I could take a look at his room?" Rae knew there would be no diary or notes in this room, boys just didn't do that sort of thing, but maybe something would give them a clue about what was going on. 

"Sure, follow me." The room was at the top of the stairs. Mrs Tennant had no hesitation in going in. "I've spent most of my time in here actually, since I got the news. I can smell him in here. It's like it's all waiting for him to come back. I know he isn't going to, but in here I can pretend."

Rae looked around the room and considered how the two mothers were coping in completely different ways with the same tragedy. The room was a typical boys room. There were pictures of wrestlers on the walls, a Gameboy poster stuck on the back of the door. The bed was unmade, a dark blue duvet was crumpled up at the foot of it and there was a curling peanut butter sandwich and a can of soft drink on the bedside cabinet. "Would it be alright if I just looked through Terry's things? I'll leave them as I find them?"

Mrs. Tennant just nodded and sat on the bed. It was obvious she wasn't going to leave Rae to do this on her own. Once again she went through the futile exercise of checking drawers, cupboards and, once Mrs. Tennant had been persuaded to move, under the mattress. All she found was a hand made birthday card for his Mum, which made the woman shake for a few minutes, but it was clear that she would not cry in front of a stranger, especially one who was going through her son's things. There was nothing out of place here, apart maybe the light blue teddy on the windowsill.

They moved back down stairs again, and Rae was just taking a deep breath to start turning the conversation towards the dental imprint she needed when there was a knock at the door. Rae looked towards Mrs. Tennant who nodded. Rae opened the door to see Steve standing there.

"Hi, has your car gone?"

Steve nodded. He held his hand out to the woman who was sitting back in the chair. It was obvious to him that she was suffering from shock, but she took his hand and let hers be shaken. "Sir, this is Mrs Tennant. Mrs Tennant, Lieutenant Sloan."

Rae continued where she had left off before Steve came in. "Thank you for letting me see Terry's bedroom, Mrs. Tennant. I'm sorry to distress you further, but we need to take a copy of your teeth."

The woman sat bolt upright in her chair. "Whatever for?"

"There were bite marks on your sons body and…" Rae didn't get a chance to finish the sentence. The woman was out of the chair in a flash. She grabbed Rae by the shoulders, and propelled her backwards across the room. Rae felt her head connect with the wall as she saw Steve surge towards them. The room went slowly black as she felt herself fall to the ground.

Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Mrs. Tennant!" he shouted as he rushed towards her. He saw Rae slam into the wall and fall as he reached the grieving mother and tried to prize her off his partner. "Mrs Tennant!" he shouted again. 

As suddenly as it had started the attack was over and Mrs Tennant sank back into her chair, put her head in her hands and started to cry. "I didn't kill my boy, I loved him, he was all I cared about in the whole world."

"Mrs. Tennant, Detective Yeager needed your teeth imprint so that you could be eliminated from our enquiries, no other reason." Steve was kneeling down by Rae now. He saw her eyelids flutter and she tried to move.  "Rae, Rae, don't move, I'll call 911."

"No   Steve,    take me    to Jesse,     please." She tried to get up, but her legs weren't responding to commands. She felt Steve put his arm around her and guide her into a standing position. As she tried to straighten up the room swam and she heard Steve speak to Mrs. Tennant once more, his voice tightly controlled.

"I'll send an officer around later, Mrs. Tennant, to get those imprints. Could you also give him a list of Terry's close friends?  Don't worry we'll see ourselves out." 

Rae felt herself being gently directed towards the front door. As she stepped through it, the light seemed incredibly bright, and all of a sudden she knew she was about to lose her lunch. She mumbled something and turned from Steve just in time to direct her aim towards the gutter. Then once again she felt Steve as he eased her into her car. He got into the driver's seat and grunted. He moved the seat back and turned to Rae.

"Rae, can you hear me?" his voice was gentle and full of concern. "I need the keys."

Rae pulled them out of her pocket and handed them over. "Of course, I know you only did that, so that I would have to drive this monstrosity." Rae didn't answer, and he called out more urgently. "Rae! Rae! Come on stay with me, don't go to sleep, not until Jesse has looked you over. Come on partner talk to me. What did you find out?"

"I    don't        know." The gaps between the words worried Steve, but at least she was talking. "She       is      very         shocked.      Doesn't        understand        why        it happened      neither      do      I." Rae stopped talking and her head lolled back.

"Rae! Rae! Detective!" There was no response. Steve put his foot down; Rae had no blue light to put on the roof yet, and he knew he needed to get her to Community General as soon as he could. He turned over what had happened as he drove. It was all so fast. One minute the woman had been sitting in the chair, the next it was over. He should have seen it, but he had just come into the room and hadn't had time to gauge the situation. Still he owed Rae an apology, when she was conscious to hear it.

He pulled into the hospital parking lot. The attendant smiled at him when he entered, "Nice car Lieutenant." Steve glared. He got out of the car, ran round to the passenger door, opened it and picked Rae up gently. He ran as fast as he could, without hurting her any more, for the main building.

Alex was just crossing the E.R. when Steve arrived. "Alex, quick take her from me!"

"What? Steve!  I'll get a gurney." Alex turned to the nurse on the reception desk. "Get Dr's Travis and Sloan down here STAT." He turned back to Rae and started to push her into a trauma suite.

Jesse was just finishing his coffee when he heard the tannoy spring to life. "Dr's Travis and Sloan to the ER STAT, Dr's Travis and Sloan to the ER STAT." He leapt to his feet and saw Mark heading in the same direction.

"What's happening, why do they want both of us, it's not Steve is it?" Mark looked worried as they jogged down the corridor, but he let out a sigh of relief as he saw Steve standing by the reception desk talking on the phone. Steve put the receiver down, as he turned he saw his father and his best friend, he moved towards Jesse. 

"Jesse, it's Rae, she was attacked by Terry Tennant's mother when she tried to take a dental imprint. I'm pretty sure that she has a concussion. She blacked out for a minute or so when it happened, and she vomited as well. She came round for a little bit, but I lost her in the car, and she hasn't come round again."

Jesse went straight in to where he could see Alex checking Rae's vital signs. He took over as he entered the room. Steve and Mark looked in through the window. It seemed to them that Rae was still out cold. 

A few minutes later, the gurney was wheeled past them. Jesse paused a moment to fill them in. "She's still out of it. I'm going to get the x-ray done, and then I'll admit her. I'll keep you guys informed."

Steve turned to his father. I'm going down to see Amanda, I'll tell her what has happened. If she comes back will you let me know?"

"You know I will son."

Steve headed down the corridor. It wasn't far to Amanda's lab and his feet knew the way without any input from his brain. Without really realising it, Steve arrived at Amanda's desk. She looked up and smiled "Steve, what brings you here?"

"Rae was just attacked by Terry Tennant's mother! She's in x-ray, and unconscious. I guess I just needed something to do other than wait in a corridor."

"Steve, she'll be OK. You know how Jesse feels about her; he'll take good care of her. Come on, why don't we go up to the Doctor's Lounge. I could do with a break, and we'll all work better when we know how Rae is." 

Steve headed back the way he had just come and sat with his Dad and Amanda while they waited for news. Steve told them what had happened to Rae, to his car and what he thought of Rae's new acquisition, and then the room sank into a companionable silence. After a few moments Mark turned to Steve and said, "Do you think that Mrs. Tennant killed her son?"

"No, Dad I don't. He was all she had, she's divorced from his father, and Terry was her only child." He shuddered. "I hope she didn't do it anyway." They all lapsed back into silence at that thought. They had all seen some terrible and desperate things in their time, but to do that to your own child. No, it had to be somebody else.

Jesse came back into the room. "Hey guys. Rae is awake. I've had her admitted overnight. She has a slight concussion, but apart from a headache she should be fine."

"Can I go and see her Jess? I owe her an apology." Steve stood up. 

"Sure, but just for a few minutes OK, she needs to sleep. She's in room 305"

Steve knocked lightly on the door of Rae's room and went in. Rae was lying back on the pillows, her eyes closed. He sat down in the chair and looked at her. How could he have let this happen? She had only been with him for four days for goodness sake. Thank heavens it wasn't worse.

Rae moved in the bed and opened her eyes. She smiled up at Steve and tried to sit up. "Hey, don't move," said Steve quietly. "Just stay where you are, or I'll get in trouble with Jesse."

Rae nodded, then grimaced. "Ooh, I shouldn't have done that. Sir, I'm so sorry about this."

"You're sorry? It was my fault. I came in to apologise to you. Rae, I just couldn't stop her. She moved so fast. He rubbed his hand over his eyes. "What would've happened if she'd had a gun?"

"She didn't, so don't even go there. I'll be fine in the morning." Rae shifted position again. "I just need to get a bit of sleep, and you need to shift the guilt by going to visit Mrs. Miller - in Tom!" She smiled at him again. Steve put his hands up in defeat and got up from the chair.

"I tell you what, I'll go and see Mrs. Miller on the understanding that you stay here and get some rest. I'll come by in the morning at about 9.30, hopefully I can pick you up and we can go and visit the teacher together. How does that sound?"

Rae smiled a sleepy smile and said "Fine partner, see you tomorrow." Steve had the impression that she was asleep before he left the room.

He returned to the Doctor's Lounge and found that although his Dad and Amanda had returned to their posts, Jesse was still in there. He was writing up a patient's records, probably Rae's. "Just the man I wanted to see," he said as Steve entered the room. "Could you make sure that Rae is covered by the LAPD insurance?"

That was a thought that hadn't crossed his mind. "Sure, first thing in the morning. I'm going to interview the lady that found Terry's body now, and I'm going to come back here tomorrow morning and hopefully Rae can be discharged by about 9.30. We have a 10.45 appointment with the teacher." As Steve started to leave he paused. "Hey didn't you and Rae have a date tonight?"

"Yeah, great timing eh? Still at least I know where she'll be when I finish my shift at 6.00 pm. See you buddy, take care."

Steve headed back to the parking lot, looked in disbelief at the car he had to drive, sighed and got in the driver's seat. As he drove out to Mary Miller's house he found himself quite enjoying driving the little car, _not that Rae will ever know he thought. After parking by the small bungalow, Steve knocked at a bright green front door and waited._

The door opened a little bit, and he could see a security chain glint in the sun. He held up his police ID to the gap "I'm Lieutenant Sloan, ma'am, I'm here to speak to you about Terry Tennant."

He heard the chain slip back and the door opened to reveal a very small, white haired lady, she stood extremely straight and her eyes were bright. She held out her hand to Steve and he shook it. "Come in young man. I have been waiting for you for over an hour!"

"I'm sorry, but I got held up on other police business." _Well that's a great start. "I'll get right down to it then, if you don't mind."_

"I wish you would."

"Yes right," Steve looked down as he felt something touch his shoe. A small Yorkshire terrier was sitting by his feet. It had a red bow in its hair. _You would go real well in Rae's car. Steve looked up again and said "I know it must have been an awful experience for you when you found the little boy's body, but could you just run through what happened again for me?"_

"Yes, the lady officer who brought me home said that somebody else would come to go over my statement with me. I was walking Jethro,"

"Sorry, who?"_ Jethro, she can't have said Jethro._

"Don't interrupt young man and you'll get all the information you need! As I said, I was walking Jethro, my dog, and I had just taken him off his leash when he started barking and growling at the blue dumpster that is situated by the corner of the green." She held up her hand. "The green is that square of land you can just see out of my front window. I went straight over, because he **never** growls. As I got closer I could see what looked like a pair of sneakers," Mrs. Miller paused and took a deep breath. "I thought they'd just been left there, and I was going to put them in the dumpster, but as I got closer I could see that there were feet … and legs. Then I saw that it was Terry." 

Her breathing was getting short now, and Steve had a feeling he might be heading back to Community General sooner than he would like if he didn't do something.

"Mrs. Miller, take a slow deep breath, and stop talking for a while. Calm yourself down, I'll make you a cup of tea, and we can continue this after that." Steve stood up and walked over to the old lady. He put his hand on hers and said, "Slowly, in and out, that's it. This is a very difficult thing you're doing today. We'll take it at your pace." Steve kept his voice low, as he had seen Rae do with Susan Marlow. Slowly Mrs Miller began to get control again. "Now I'll go into your kitchen and make you that tea. You just sit here quietly for a few minutes. But, call me if you need me, or if you feel panicky again, OK?" Mrs. Miller nodded her head and Steve made his way to the kitchen that he could see through the living room door. 

As he made the drinks he tried to imagine what it must be like to find the body of a child, and then to realise that you know that child. He shuddered. Terrible, terrible. Steve took two cups out of the cupboard and made a pot of tea. He saw a tea cosy on the side and put that on the pot. He smiled, his Aunt Dora had a tea cosy, but he didn't think he knew anybody else who did.

Steve walked back into the lounge. Mrs Miller had her head back on the sofa and her eyes shut, but she opened them the moment she heard Steve and smiled a watery smile. "Thank you Lieutenant, I'm sorry for my momentary lack of control, it won't happen again." She picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. 

"Is there anybody I can call for you Mrs. Miller, so that you won't be alone?"

"No Lieutenant, I'll be alright once I've told my tale to you. Please let me continue." She took a deep breath. "I put my hand by his mouth and I could feel his breath faintly on it. I don't have a cell phone, not like all these youngsters, I didn't think I needed one. I keep thinking maybe if I'd had one, if I hadn't had to go over to the phone booth at the other side of the park maybe Terry would still be alive."

"No Mrs. Miller, there was nothing you could have done, nothing anybody could have done."

She nodded, but Steve knew she wasn't convinced, he wouldn't be either. "Anyway I went back and waited with him until the police and ambulance came. I didn't want him to be alone, who knows, maybe he even knew I was there, just for a minute."

Steve stood up and put his empty cup back on the tray, he picked up her cup as well and headed back to the kitchen, so that he could wash up the dirty things. Mrs Miller followed him out, picked up a small towel and dried the things as he washed them.

"Did you see anybody hanging around the area while you were there, or before you knew what had happened?"

"No." She shook her head ruefully. "I've gone over it and over it. The green was deserted, just like it is most days when we go there. I'm not a very sociable person Lieutenant, I pick my time to go out carefully, it was a quiet time of day."

"How did you know Terry and his Dad?"

"They used to live right by me when they first got married, when Terry arrived the place got a bit cramped for them and they started to save so that they could move somewhere bigger. It took them 5 years to save and another six months to split up. I guess that when they didn't have a joint goal anymore they found they didn't have anything else either. Lee kept in touch with me, but Marie didn't. He paid his alimony until Terry was 8½ but then he lost his job, and he couldn't afford it any more. After that his wife just stopped all contact between him and the boy. It broke Lee's heart, but he didn't want to hurt his son so he stayed away, just sent Christmas and birthday presents and kept his distance." 

Steve emptied the dirty water down the sink and turned back to Mrs Miller. 

"What type of boy was Terry?"

"Well, I hadn't really seen all that much of him lately, occasionally when his Dad did get to take him out they would come over here. I used to see him on his way home from school in the evenings sometimes too. If he saw me he always waved. He told me once that he liked having me as a friend." Mrs Miller sighed, folded the towel in her hands and carried on. "He was a happy boy, confident and quite smart. Not clever, clever, but streetwise, I think they call it. He could be mouthy if he didn't like you, but he was never rude to me."

"I have to go now, but if you think of anything else, no matter how small, please contact me on this number, Steve handed her a card. If I'm not there somebody will take a message, or you can reach me on my cell phone. Thank you Mrs Miller, you have been very helpful."

"Oh I do hope so Lieutenant, I do hope so. If you see Lee, please ask him to call me. I know if I ring it will be the wrong time." She walked Steve to the door, and he could see her standing there lost in thought as he drove off.

Steve headed back to the precinct. He needed to write up what he had just learnt, and he had to tell the Chief about Rae and find out about the insurance. _That will go down well, I can just hear him, four days Sloan, she's been with you four days and you have gotten her hospitalized already." He decided to do the report first and then face the Chief, who knew, with any luck he would have gone home before he had a chance to see him._

But Steve's luck just wasn't holding that day, first Rae, then driving a bright red tomato and now the Chief was waiting for Steve as he entered the squad room.

"Sloan, my office, now!"

"Yes Sir."

Steve stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Sit down Lieutenant, I think you have quite a bit to tell me."

Half an hour later Steve was still telling. "Mrs Miller gave me some valuable insight into Terry's personality Sir. I'm hoping that we can find out the same type of information about Hana tomorrow."

"We Sloan, we, just where **is** the other half of your double act?"

"I called it in Sir, as soon as I'd got her to the hospital."

"I know you did Sloan, but she is a special case, you didn't think you should contact me personally as well?"

Actually Steve hadn't thought that. He mumbled and shook his head. Surprisingly the Chief let it go. "OK, will she be back on her feet tomorrow? I understand from Dr. Travis that it is just a mild concussion."

Steve looked up, surprised. "You called the hospital Sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant I did. Occasionally I do have officers other than you in that place, and I always make it my business to find out how they are at least once a day. I also sorted out the insurance query that Dr. Travis had."

Steve got up and looked at his boss. "Can I go now Sir? I want to write this up before it all leaves my head. We have to meet with the teacher tomorrow morning and we'll try to see all of Hana's friends on Saturday or Sunday while they have their parents with them."

"Yes off you go. Good work Lieutenant, I am sure that the slow and softly softly approach will work, even though it is now two murders instead of one."

Steve nodded and headed back to his desk. He had to admit it made for much better working conditions when he could actually see across it. He grabbed a coffee and began to write his report. He glanced up at the clock, 6.15, already. He wondered how Rae was. He picked up the phone and punched in the familiar numbers. 

"Dr. Sloan."

"Dad it's me. I'm back at the station; I'll be here for a while typing up my report. I just wondered how Rae was doing."

"Fine son. She woke up from her sleep at about 5.00 pm and said she felt much better. You know that Rae and Jesse were supposed to be going to the drive in tonight right?"

"I knew they had a date but not there they were going. Still there will be other nights."

"Well, Jesse took off early at about 5.30 pm and he just got back. He had an extra large bucket of popcorn, enough soda to float a boat and a pile of videos. He also had a toy car. So I guess he's trying to re-create the date here."

"Oh boy, he **has** got it bad hasn't he!" Steve chuckled. Actually he was really glad that Jesse felt that way, he liked them both, and he knew they would be good for each other. "See you later Dad."

"Yeah, bye son." Mark closed his phone and smiled at the thought of Jesse heading upstairs clutching all his goodies.

The indoor drive-in was just getting started in room 305. Jesse had put the car on the bedside table. The popcorn was on the bed between them and the first video was in the player. They had a can of soda each and Rae had her head on his shoulder. _It doesn't get much better than this _he thought and looked down at Rae's hair and sighed contentedly. 

Rae looked up and smiled. "Thank you so much Jess. I was feeling pretty disappointed about not being able to go out when you came in with all this. So, what's the first film?"

"Well, just in case you were feeling homesick, I got "An American Werewolf In London. What, what?" Jesse spluttered as he saw the horrified look on Rae's face.

"Is that because you think I'm a werewolf, or because you think I miss the Tower of London and Big Ben?"

"The latter, the latter honest!" Jess looked concerned, until he saw the smile in Rae's eyes, then he made himself comfortable on the pillows, Rae snuggled closer to him and he pressed 'play' on the remote control.

Mark passed the room about 40 minutes later, to see Rae with her hand over her mouth while Jesse was pointing at the screen. Then he saw Rae smile and Jesse laugh. _Looks like they're having a great time_ he thought as he went on down the corridor to check on a patient of his own. By the time he came back, he could see that neither Jesse nor Rae was at all interested in the film any more.

Inside the room Rae pulled back from Jesse's embrace and smiled at him. "Shouldn't we draw that blind?" she asked. "What if somebody looks in? I am supposed to be ill you know!"

Jesse got up and closed the blind, took the video out of the machine and put it in its case. "In London we have to wind them back to the beginning before we take them back."

"Oh yeah right, sorry." Jesse took the video back out of its case and put it in the machine, then he pressed rewind and turned to the bed.

"How are you feeling Rae, do you have a headache or anything now you've watched the film for a while?" Jess slipped back into doctor mode as he saw Rae run her hand across her brow.

"A bit Jess, but not enough to end the evening, I feel much better the closer you get to me. So come back over here and make me feel special again."

Jess got back on the bed next to Rae and he felt himself being pulled close to her once more. Her tongue probed deep into his mouth and he responded enthusiastically. He gasped as he felt Rae's hands pull his shirt out from the back of his pants and then she let her fingers gently run over his back. He moved his lips away from Rae's and started to kiss her on the neck and behind her ears. He heard her groan and he began to run his fingers through her hair. Suddenly Rae let out a yelp and moved away from him.

"Rae what is it? Are you OK?"

"I'm sorry Jess, I think you just found where my head hit the wall today. It was just painful for a moment that's all. There's no need for you to stop what you were doing." She leant over to start again, but Jesse put his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes there is. I should have known better. I know I'm off duty, but I shouldn't have forgotten that you are in here as a patient. I want you to go to sleep now. I know that Steve wants me to be able to discharge you in the morning, so doctors orders, sleep Detective Yeager."

"Only if I get a goodnight kiss from the cutest doctor in the room." Rae smiled up at him and he sat back on the bed so that he could gather her gently up into his arms. He was careful not to put his hands near the back of her head, but the kiss itself was neither gentle nor careful. As he pushed his tongue into her mouth he pulled her as close to him as he could and let himself float in her arms. The kiss seemed to go on for eternity, and yet take no time at all. 

Rae looked up at him and said breathlessly, "Goodnight Dr. Travis, I hope my treatment will continue really soon."

Jesse was suddenly embarrassed. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and said; "I'll see you in the morning Detective, sleep well."

Rae smiled contently, and turned over as the moon shone in through the window.  Jesse watched as she shut her eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep. He left the room and headed down to the parking lot. He would be back in the morning, and he had no doubt that he would be able to discharge her. Thank goodness it hadn't been more serious than a bump on the head. He knew what being a cop was like; he'd had to operate on Steve more times than he cared to remember. It could've been so much worse, and even though he'd only known her for under a week, he knew his life would've been much emptier without her in it.


	5. Friday

**Suffer Little Children**

**Friday**

The sun came up the next morning and it appeared that it would be a lovely day. Steve wandered out into the kitchen and put the coffee on. He heard his Dad in the bathroom singing along to the radio. _A little more in tune than Rae_ he thought with a smile. He wondered how she was this morning, and how her strange date with Jesse had gone the previous evening. He would need to speak to Alex this morning he realised, because neither Jesse nor himself had been into Bob's the night before, apart from the five minutes at the end of the evening, when he had called in and cashed up.

Mark came out into the kitchen and smiled at his son. "Morning Steve looks like it's going to be a lovely day. What are your plans"? Steve smiled back. He knew that he had told his Dad what he would be doing today, but he patiently went through it all again.

"We're going to school today. That is, it will be we, if Jesse discharges Rae. Just to speak to the class teacher and the Principal. We're going to tackle the friends tomorrow when they're with their parents."

"Right, right, good idea. What time do you think you'll finish?"

"Well we're scheduled to finish at 6.00pm again tonight. Then an early start tomorrow and an afternoon start on Sunday. At least that's the plan."

Steve put his empty cup in the sink and headed back down to his part of the house. Mark grabbed himself a cup of coffee and sat on the deck watching the world go by. He had the weekend off; he went back into the house. "Steve, Steve, I'm off this weekend, do you think you could bring your files home, so that I can go over them? "Who knows maybe I will see something."

"Yeah sure Dad, no problem." The voice floated up from downstairs. Mark drained his cup and put it with Steve's in the sink. Then he headed for the front door. 

"Are you making for the hospital son?"

"I will be in about 20 minutes why?"

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to see what you looked like in Rae's car." Mark smiled and went through the front door before he could hear his son's answer.

A quarter of an hour later Steve pulled out of his driveway. _Why did you think I waited until you'd left, just because it's a neat little car to drive, there is no way that I'm going to let anybody actually see me do it. Steve saw the kids on the bus again, this time they waved and smiled at him, but there was nothing else. __You know he thought __Rae just might have something with this car, she's right, nobody realises that it's a cop driving it. All his good feelings evaporated however, when he pulled into the parking lot, to see Mark, Jesse and Amanda all waiting for him as he unfolded himself and got out of the car._

"Hey, nice wheels buddy, colour matches your eyes!" called Jesse, who was feeling brave because of the distance between them. He saw Steve begin to cross the parking lot and he became very quiet, very quickly.

Amanda had seen the car when Rae had driven to her house, but she still stood there smiling. Mark had known that Steve was waiting to leave until his father was long gone, and he had no intention of letting him get off the hook.

"Would you like me to arrange some physiotherapy for you son, to get you straightened back out?"

Steve glared at them and headed for the entrance. They all followed sheepishly behind him, but by the time they reached the elevators they were all smiling.

"How's Rae this morning Jesse?" Steve looked over at his friend.

"I'm on my way up there now. Why don't you come with me, you can wait outside, and I'll call you in when I'm done."

"Fine, how did the date go last night?"

Steve was delighted to see Jesse blush. "Err, it was great, thanks. By the way, she has a very sore bump on her head, or at least she did last night." Jesse stopped realising what he was saying and blushed even more. "Just be careful OK?"

Thankfully for Jesse the elevator chose that moment to reach Rae's floor and they all got out. Amanda and Mark walked ahead, they poked their heads around Rae's door, just for minute to say good morning, then they headed off to their respective departments to start their day.

Jesse tapped on the door, hearing a quiet "Come in" he entered and closed the door behind him. The blinds were still shut from the night before and Rae looked as if she hadn't been awake for long. She smiled at Jesse and held out her hands to him. He went over and kissed her gently on the lips. 

"Well, good morning beautiful, how are you feeling today?" Rae smiled at the compliment.

"A lot better than I did yesterday.  My head is still sore, and I have got a bump on it that would do an Ostrich proud, but I feel fine. I've been and used the bathroom this morning, and I didn't feel wobbly any more." She looked up expectantly at Jesse. "Please discharge me Jess, it's not that I don't like being here with you, I do, especially when I get special treatment, but I really have to get back on this case, before this monster strikes again. Please."

"Okay, I have to do a few tests. Then I'll let you know what I think. I'll just open the blinds a little bit and then get started."

Steve sat outside the room; his mind going over how he thought the day would go. He was sure that Rae would be with him, and he hoped that the teacher would be able to give them some useful information; after all it appeared that she knew both children quite intimately. Nobody else seemed to be in that position. He looked up as he heard the door to Rae's room open and then close again. 

Jesse looked sombre as he walked over to Steve. "Jess, what's the matter, is Rae all right?" Steve was on his feet in a flash. "You will be able to discharge her won't you?" Steve looked really concerned. The door opened again.

"Relax Lieutenant, you don't think I'm going to allow you to drive my car again without me in it do you?" Rae smiled at Steve from the doorway. She was a little pale, but other than that she appeared fine. Steve leant over and kissed her on the cheek. 

"Hey Sloan, she's my girl you know."

Rae smiled, hugged herself, and said in a very British voice "Four days in America and men are fighting over me already. My mother was right."

Steve turned to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Come along Detective, I'll fill you in as I drive. Oh Jesse, when will she be able to drive her own tomato?"

"I would leave it until later today or tomorrow. Just to be on the safe side. Rae, I'll meet you at Bob's tonight then OK? I'm on duty there all evening."

"Sure. I promised my children I would ring them tonight, so once I've done that I'll come over. See you Jesse." Rae turned back to the doctor and gave him a long lingering kiss, then she turned back to Steve and walked towards the elevator.

As she sat in the passenger seat of her car she realised that she couldn't actually remember getting to Community General yesterday. In fact the last thing she remembered was being propelled across Mrs Tennant's living room. "Steve, did you drive me here yesterday?"

"Yep, sure did, tomato to the rescue!" Steve smiled. "Right it's now 9.35, we need to drop into the station, the Chief wants to see you, and then we will head for St. Mary's. That sound alright to you?"

"Yes Sir, fine." Said Rae.

"Steve turned to her. "Rae, I want you to promise me, if you feel unwell, or just out of sorts today, you must tell me OK?"

"Yes I will, I promise."

Steve smiled and carried on driving to the station. Maybe they would get a break today. If they didn't well, they'd had two deaths in four days. He shuddered. They couldn't afford not to get one.

The Chief spotted the two detectives as they entered the room and opened his door. They glanced at each other and made their way over to his office. He gestured with his hand for them to sit down and then he shut the door.

"Detective Inspector Yeager, I'm sorry that you had to have that happen to you only four days into your tour of duty." He glared at Steve, and started to speak again but Rae cut in.

"Chief, it wasn't the Lieutenant's fault that I got hurt. It happened so quickly. One minute she was sitting in the chair, seemingly suffering from shock, and I can't blame her for that, the next she was flying at me."

"I'll have her arrested and charged with assaulting an officer."

"NO!" Rae shouted. The Chief stared at her.

"Detective" he started but once again Rae cut in.

"I don't intend to press charges. That woman has had her life destroyed. I would've probably throttled someone way before she did. There is no way that I will let her be charged!" Rae's voice was raised, and Steve could see a couple of the guys outside looking into the room.

"Very good Detective. I suggest that you both get on your way then, I understand that you are interviewing the teacher this morning."

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir," said Steve as he stood up and turned to leave the room.

"Oh and Detective Yeager, speak to me like that again, and I'll let you find out how we walk the beat here in L.A., understand?"

"Yes Sir. I apologise Sir." Rae said. She paused.  "Am I dismissed Sir?"

"Yes dismissed Detective." The Chief stood. "Oh and Detective."

"Yes Sir." Rae looked back anxiously.

"I am glad you're feeling better. Nice car by the way!"

Rae smiled warmly and left the office. Steve put a guiding hand on her shoulder and they walked out into the corridor. A voice called them back. "Sloan," he held up a telephone receiver, "Guy says your car's downstairs."

Steve smiled broadly. "Thanks, you just made my day." Rae stuck her tongue out at him, but then she smiled too.

They got into Steve's car and he joined the morning traffic. "How did you go with Mrs Miller?" Rae asked as Steve let a couple of cars change lane. 

"Nice lady. Lonely I would think. It's all in my report. He pointed to the bag that he had slung on the back seat. If I were you I'd take this time to catch up on it. We won't be at the school for a while."

"Sorry Steve, I can't read in the car, I never have been able to, and after what happened yesterday, well I would hate for your car to have to go back to the garage because I threw up in it! I promise I'll sit back, listen and inwardly digest, OK?"

"Inwardly what?"

"Sorry my grandfather used to say that. It means take it in and keep it in your brain, at least I think it does, I never thought to ask him." Rae did listen, intently, as Steve told her about his visit to Mary Miller the previous day. She had a feeling that the old lady had probably enjoyed the company of this handsome man, and had given out more information than she would have done if she had been there. _Maybe getting herself injured had been a break after all, the way this case was going she would take them, no matter how they came. Rae turned to Steve as he finished his narrative. "He sounds like a normal 10-year-old boy to me. They all have a mouth on them at that age, but they like the company of someone they think they can trust. I wonder if he told her any of his secrets."_

"I don't know, she was real shook up from finding the body. I think if he had told her that somebody was hurting him she would have told either me or the officer that took her home."

"Yeah, you are probably right. Just clutching at straws I guess. Now I don't want you to worry, but I'm just going to shut my eyes for a few minutes. I feel fine, but I need to try and organise my thoughts. I haven't forgotten my promise."

Steve smiled and concentrated on the road. He looked across a couple of times and he could see that Rae was deep in thought. She was biting on her lower lip, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her run her fingers through her hair more than once. He tapped Rae lightly on the shoulder as he saw the board with the school's name on it. "We're here Rae, time to go to work."

Rae looked round. "OK Lieutenant. I'll let you take the lead. I'll wander around the classroom while you're talking. I want to see if Hana or Terry has anything up on the walls. Maybe some artwork or English that will give us a clue."

"OK, I guess we'd better introduce ourselves to the Principal first, and arrange to see him or her once we've spoken to Ms Howard. You know we really should have got the Principal's name."

Steve got out of the car, and this time Rae waited and let him come and open the door for her. She smiled at him, ran her fingers through her hair once more and started towards the school entrance.

Inside the doors there were children's pictures up on the walls, and lockers down each side of the corridor. The school secretary's office was right in front of them, and Steve went up to it and rang the bell.

A young woman of about 30 walked up to the partition and smiled "Good morning, may I help you?"

Steve showed her his I.D. "I'm Lieutenant Sloan and this is Detective Yeager, LAPD. We have an appointment to meet with Ms Howard. But first we'd like to have a few words with your Principal, err," Steve looked around. He saw a sign on the next door along; it said Mr. Johnson, Principal. "Mr. Johnson, if he's available please."

"Nice save," whispered Rae as the secretary walked towards the door at the end of her office and disappeared through it. As she left Rae saw a young boy leave a classroom at the end of the hall and head towards where they were standing. As he got nearer she could see that he had a slip of paper in his hand. He came and stood at the secretary's window. By this time she was back in her room.

"Yes Carlos what is it?"

"Ms Howard says that I have to see Mr. Johnson, says I'm" the boy paused "pertinent."

A small smile played on the secretary's lips. "Let me have your form Carlos, the Principal is real busy at the moment, I'll put a note on your slip and you can come back at the end of the class OK?"

"Yes Miss Brown."

"Oh and Carlos, behave in the meantime right?" The boy nodded and headed back off the way he had come. He looked about 8 or 9 years old, and Steve wondered whether he was a classmate of either of the murdered children.

"Mr. Johnson can see you right away Lieutenant, won't you go in?" Miss Brown's voice cut across his thoughts.

Rae tapped lightly on the door. She heard a disembodied voice call out "Come." Rae opened the door, but she let Steve enter first. The principal was a thin wiry looking man. He had gold-rimmed glasses on and a brown suit. Steve shook his hand and introduced himself and his partner, and then the man turned to Rae. _It's like shaking hands with a lettuce, she thought as she resisted the temptation to wipe her hand on her jeans._

"Please sit down. I presume you're here about the terrible events that have occurred recently Lieutenant."

"Yes Sir, we've an appointment to speak with Ms Howard, but we wanted to have a few words with you first. Do you have copies of the children's report cards that we could take a look at?"

"Yes of course, if you don't mind I will telephone their parents first, just to make sure that it is OK for you to see them. If it is, my secretary will have them ready for you when you leave."

"What were their attendance records like Mr. Johnson? Did they have more days off than other children, especially days when there was no letter or phone call?" Rae looked at the man sitting across the room from her and considered him, this was a terrible thing that had happened, and there was no way that the school could not be affected by it. She wondered how his leadership abilities would weather the storm ahead.

"I don't know Detective," Rae was jolted back to the moment at hand, "Again my secretary would be the person to ask, she can check the records for you."

"Do you have a bullying problem in this school Principal Johnson?" Steve asked, making notes about talking to the secretary at the same time.

"No, Lieutenant, we do not. We have a school policy about bullying and we try to ensure that we follow it. All the children know that they can come to me if they have a problem. Now if that is all, I'm a very busy man." The Principal stood up and it was obvious that the meeting was to be terminated immediately. 

Steve and Rae found themselves back in the corridor just as the bell went and children poured out of all the doors. They moved a little way back into a corner so that they would be out of the line of traffic and watched as the children put their books away and headed for the schoolyard. Steve tapped Rae on the shoulder and pointed down the corridor. "Is that her?"

Rae nodded. She could see Ms Howard, who this morning was wearing a pale lilac creation. She spoke to a couple of children as she walked down the corridor, and seemed to push the boy called Carlos towards the Principal's office. As she got nearer Rae could see that it was a dress partially covered by a white lab coat. The teacher saw the two detectives standing by the wall and made her way over to them. "Good morning Detective, you're nice and punctual I see," she looked at Steve, "I'm Leticia Howard, won't you come this way?" They followed the woman as she headed towards the staff room. "I won't be a moment, I just need to get myself a cup of coffee, can I get either of you anything?"

Both detectives shook their heads. Ms Howard shrugged her shoulders and disappeared into the Staff Room. They could hear muffled voices behind the door, and Steve leant over and opened the door a crack. 

"Morning Letty, you're not looking your normal floaty self today. Got anything planned for the weekend?"

"Morning Dennis, no, nothing exciting anyway. I was going to come in and change the display in my classroom, but the janitor is away this weekend so I shall have a quiet time at home instead."

"Well give me a ring if you feel lonely, I know how this business is effecting you, not quite your usual bouncy self this morning."

"That could be because I have two policemen standing in the corridor waiting to interview me! I don't know, why couldn't it have happened to a child I could find something good to say about?" there was a pause, "Oh well, I'll just have to pretend it is parent night I suppose!"

Rae looked over at Steve the surprise showing in her face. He said nothing but his face was taut and she had a feeling that he was not impressed with Ms Leticia Howard. He moved away from the door just in time, as it was opened quickly and they were face to face with Ms Howard once more.

"Right, if you'll follow me we can talk in my classroom. It'll be much quieter and private in there. The children will be outside for about 15 minutes, then I have a free period, I think it would probably be better if we then retire to the staff room, although I hope we'll be finished with this unfortunate business before then." As she spoke the teacher was walking down the corridor with Steve and Rae following along behind. Rae was looking around her as she went to see if she could see anything that belonged to either of the children, but once they had gone past the Principal's door the walls were covered with lockers not artwork.

Ms Howard opened the door to the last classroom on the floor and let Steve and Rae in behind her, as she shut it Rae could see a coat and scarf which matched the dress handing on the back of the door next to her bag. It was a bright airy biology lab; the children had obviously been learning about animals, there were pictures of dragonflies and butterflies cut out of tracing paper stuck on the windows and a tank with a spider in it by the sink. Rae remembered when her eldest son had been learning about this. It had been called Mini Beasts, and her next-door neighbour had loaned him the skin from a tarantula to take in to class. Rae shivered as she thought about it. She was not good with spiders, or snakes for that matter.

"Are you cold Detective Yeager? I can shut the window if you would like."

"No, I'm sorry Ms Howard, I was just remembering when my son was learning about spiders and snakes and that type of animal, I'm not very good with creepy crawlies. Sorry." She pulled a face at Steve who smiled at her. 

"What can you tell me about Hana Marlow, Ms Howard, her school work, whether she had a lot of friends, things like that."

Ms Howard took a deep breath and Rae remembered what they had heard through the staff room door. "Well, Lieutenant." 

_Good keep talking to Steve, and then I can have my little wander. _

"She was quite a popular girl, she and her little friends would normally sit at the back of the room together, there were four of them who spent most of their time together." Ms Howard's voice was friendly, but Steve had the impression that it was forced.

Steve took the list of names that Hana's parents had given Rae out of his pocket. "Could you look at this list and tell me if they are same girls?"

"Certainly Lieutenant. There was Rachel Simpson, Sally Thomas, and Crystal Downes."

Steve put a little mark next to the three names and turned back to the teacher as he did so they heard the bell ring for the next class. "Did they sit together in all their lessons do you know, or just yours?"

"I wouldn't know that Lieutenant, but I'm sure that you will be speaking to all of them, you can ask then can't you?" If Steve was surprised by the change in her tone he didn't show it.

"What was her school work like Ms Howard, did she work hard at it? You teach biology don't you?"

"Yes, that's right. She was a very good artist, so all the pictures in her workbooks were neat and well done." Ms Howard's voice had taken on a grudging tone. It was clear that she hadn't liked this little girl. "Her note taking was average for her age I suppose."

"What about Terry Tennant, I understand from my partner," Rae turned round as she heard Steve mention her and walked back across the room. "That you gave him extra help with his reading." 

There was nothing on the walls to help them. Although Terry had one picture of a happy looking bee displayed she could see none of Hana's, if she had been so good at her drawings why wasn't there at least one of hers on display?

 "Yes I did," suddenly she smiled. "Terry was a nice child. He'd had some problems at home, and he didn't see his father very much. But he wanted to better himself, and I was pleased to help." As she talked about Terry, Leticia Howard's body language changed, she enjoyed talking about him. Then just as suddenly she changed again. "I can't believe that he's dead. He shouldn't have died."

"No, Ms Howard, no one should die at that age, I agree." Said Rae as she took over the questioning.  "Did Hana and Terry have any lessons together? I know that Hana went to Terry's eighth birthday party."

"That would have been two year ago, I wasn't here then. This is my first semester at this school. Sorry what was the other question?"

Rae got the feeling that Ms Howard would far rather be questioned by Steve, so she had no intention of letting that happen. "Did Hana and Terry take any lessons together?"

"I didn't teach them together if that is what you are asking. I was Hana homeroom teacher, but that was all. I don't remember them actively disliking each other, but they weren't close friends either." Ms Howard stood up. "I really don't think I have any more information that I can give you. So if you wouldn't mind, I would really like to get back to work."

Steve and Rae looked at each other. Steve turned and said, "Before we go I also have a list of Terry's friends, could you just have a look at this for me and let me know who you would think would have been his best friend."

Ms Howard took the piece of paper that the officer who had taken the imprint of Mrs. Tennant's teeth had left on Rae's desk. "Carlos Moya was his best friend, they spent a lot of time together. Simon Bilton was usually with them as well. I can't help you any further than that I'm afraid.

"Was Hana right handed Ms Howard?" Rae asked, as the teacher moved towards the door of the classroom.

"Yes, I think so, Detective, why do you ask?"

"How did she do her schoolwork when her arm was in a cast?"

"I expected her to use her left hand as best she could. Of course her pictures weren't as good then." Somehow Rae got the impression that that gave Ms Howard pleasure, "And it was a shame that her exam results weren't as good because of it. Some other teachers let her answer her questions verbally, but I felt she really had to make an effort." Rae shook her head in disbelief. Didn't this woman feel any compassion, or that she had to at least try to make a good impression on herself and Steve?

"Well, that'll be all for now Ms Howard, but we will contact you again if we need any further information. Could you let us have your home address and telephone number please?"

"Certainly, are you telling me not to leave town?" She turned and took her bag down from the hook on the door. She reached inside it and took out a small white card. She handed it to Steve and smiled. "Call me anytime, Lieutenant."

Steve returned the favour and gave her his card. "If we're unavailable on that number you can try my cell phone or leave a message at the station. It'll be passed on to either Detective Yeager or myself. Thank you for your help."

Steve and Rae left the room and headed back to the secretary's office to pick up the information they had requested. "She was flirting with you at the end, you do realise that don't you?" Rae smiled at her partner.

"She wasn't, was she? No wonder she's still single then, because I didn't realise."

"Maybe **that's** why **you** are still single as well Lieutenant!"

Rae rang the bell to attract Miss Brown's attention. "Ah, Detective, I've rung Terry and Hana's mothers, and they are both quite willing for you to have copies of their report cards, they're in this envelope along with their attendance records for the last year. If there's anything else we can do to help you solve this terrible case and get our school back to it's normal happy self please don't hesitate to ring me." Miss Brown was visibly upset.

"What's it like, normally to work here Miss Brown?" asked Rae suddenly remembering that the school secretaries at her children's schools had known almost everything that went on.

"Normally we're a very nice happy school, we have problems like all schools do, graffiti, occasional bullying, but we're a good school."

"What about the staff, do they all get on well together?" Steve joined in the conversation.

"Well, most of the time they're a happy bunch. Sometimes it's obvious that the wrong person has been hired, but somehow they never seem to stay very long if that's the case."

"How about Ms Howard, I know she hasn't been here very long." Rae desperately hoped that by being more specific she wouldn't frighten this woman off, but she knew that she had to take the risk.

"Letty, I don't really know her very well. She's quite friendly with Dennis Langdon, our Head of Science, but apart from that she keeps herself to herself. Although I get the impression that she doesn't suffer fools gladly, if you know what I mean."

Rae nodded and said, "Well thank you Miss Brown, you have been very helpful."

She turned to her partner and they walked out of the school together. They got into Steve's car and he pulled away from St Mary's Elementary School and back towards the station. "You know I don't think I would be happy about my children being taught by Ms Howard, she certainly knows how to hold a grudge." Rae looked at her watch, 11.45. "How about we grab a bite to eat on the way back, then we can spend this afternoon going over the information we've gathered this morning, phone around the friends of Hana and Terry and who knows we may even get to spend the evening as planned tonight at BBQ Bob's."

Rae should have known better. As she spoke Steve's cell phone rang. "Sloan here, where? Right, yeah we're finished here, we'll attend." He turned to Rae, "There's been a shooting at a pool hall, not far from here, and we just got the call!"

_Okay, big mouth; just keep your thoughts to yourself _in future._ "I guess that lunch is off then?"_

Steve's car screeched to a halt a few minutes later in front of the Starlight Pool Hall and they got out leaving their doors open as a shield. As Steve knelt down he heard a bullet whiz past his ear. He looked around to see if he could see anybody to fill him in on the situation. Martin Robertson was crouched behind his black and white, he spotted Steve and keeping low ran over to where they were.

"Lieutenant, there's a guy in there with at least a machine gun and a hand gun. One of the staff members got out as he started shooting. She said that there were about 7 or eight people in there. He won't talk, he just shoots." Martin paused, "Any ideas?"

Steve turned to Rae, "Get on the radio, and get me some more backup. Then get round to the trunk, there are two Kevlar vests in there." Rae nodded and did as she was told.

Rae came round to Steve's side of the car a few moments later. She handed him a vest and put her own on. Then she said, "Thought you might like this too." She had a megaphone in her hand.

"Thanks." Three more black and white's arrived on the scene, siren's muted. Rae looked on with interest as they immediately formed a defensive perimeter around the pool hall. More shots rang out from the building in their direction and Rae watched in horror as she saw one of the police marksmen cry out and fall to the ground.

Steve put the megaphone up to his mouth, took a deep breath and tried to defuse the situation. "This is the Police, come out with your hands up."

A voice floated out from the building. "No way sucker! The only way I'm leaving here is in a body bag!"

"Oh great," whispered Steve, "I just need a death wish today." He put the megaphone back up to his mouth. "If you throw your weapons out now things will be much easier for you."

"Go to …" the sentence was never finished. As he spoke the gunman moved into the line of sight of the snipers in front of the building. Suddenly the air was filled with gunfire; Steve and Rae were off to the right of all the action and could only wait until it was over. 

As quickly as it started the firing stopped. The marksmen Rae had seen fall near the entrance had clearly been badly wounded; one of his colleagues was tending to him as the others went in to secure the building. A few minutes later they signalled to Steve and he and Rae walked forward, guns still levelled on the doorway, just in case.

"What have you got?" Steve asked as he scanned the room. 

"It's clear Steve, the perp is over there, killed outright, but it sure ain't pretty in the other room. We've got ambulances on the way, and I'm just about to call the Coroner."

Steve and Rae made their way to the room in the back of the building pulling on latex gloves as they went. As she went through the door Rae was extremely glad that she hadn't had time to stop for lunch. She would have never lived down the embarrassment of losing it two days running, and this sight would certainly have done it for her.  There were two men by the door, but they only had one face left between them. There was a woman lying over a pool table, her blouse front dripping blood over the edge of the table into a puddle on the floor. Rae moved round towards the woman and leant over and took her pulse, but as she had feared there was nothing, the woman was dead too. At that moment Steve called "Rae over here, I want somebody else to see this."

She turned towards her partner's voice and stopped in horror. There were three men lying face down on the floor, each of them had their hands tied behind their backs and they had been shot execution style in the back of the skull. As she went to move towards Steve a hand shot out from under the table next to her and pulled her to the ground. Steve had his gun out in seconds. "Freeze, Police. Let her go, and move slowly out from under the table."

The hand released her leg and Rae moved backwards and looked into the eyes of a terrified young man. She put her hand up. "I think it's OK Sir." She stretched her arm out and it was grasped by the youth who very hesitantly came out into the open.

"Don't shoot me, please, I only came in to get a soda!" 

"It's OK. We're the Police; we aren't going to hurt you. It's over now. What's your name?" As she looked at him she realised that young man would be too old a description for this boy. He must have only been about 16 years old. 

"Graham, Graham Lewis. Oh God, what happened here? One minute it was quiet and normal and then all hell broke loose!"

"Look, hold on son." Steve moved over to the boy. "We'll get you looked over by a medic OK? Then one of the officers will take you down to the station to get a statement from you. My partner's right, it's over now. You'll be fine."

Rae looked around and saw Amanda come through the door with Jesse following right behind her. "Jess, over here a minute." She called out. 

Jesse's face was as white as a sheet. "Rae, what happened here? Are you OK, you're bleeding." 

"What? I can't be," she looked down and saw that her t-shirt was covered in blood. "It must have come off that lady over there. I leant over her to take her pulse. Honestly Jesse, I'm fine it's not mine. A little rattled maybe, but fine. Could you take a look at this lad for me? His name's Graham, and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Jesse looked at the frightened face before him. "Lad, that's a British expression right?" he smiled at Graham, "Come on, lets take you out of here and give you a look over. My name's Dr. Travis by the way." He steered Graham out of the building into the sunlight talking to him all the time. 

Rae had a feeling that Mr. Lewis may be sampling the hospitality of Community General tonight, _poor guy, I bet he never drinks soda again!_ With this thought going around in her head Rae made her way over to where Amanda was talking to Steve. "Hi Amanda. Steve, Jesse has taken Mr. Lewis outside to give him the once over. I think he'll probably take him back to the hospital. He seemed very shocked to me." 

Amanda was crouched down by the body of the gunman. "There's no doubt that he was killed by gunfire. I can see three bullet wounds. I'll let you have a preliminary report in a couple of hours, the rest tomorrow. Sound OK?

Rae got up and walked out of the building. She suddenly needed to get some clean air in her lungs. _Well as clean as it gets in L.A. _She knew that they would be here for a while yet, and she needed a breather. She had been a police officer for 15 years, but she had never seen so many bodies in the same place at the same time. She realised that L.A. was a very violent place. She walked over to one of the black and white's, Martin Robertson looked up at her from where he was writing a report. "Hi Detective, anything I can do for you?

 "I don't suppose that you have got a bottle of water or anything?" She asked.

"Yeah sure, hold on. He reached down into the car and pulled out a bag. Inside it was a half eaten sandwich, an apple, two cans of soda and a bottle of water. He handed it to her. "You keep it, you look like you need it. Pretty rough in there I guess?"

"You could say that. Thanks Officer Robertson." Rae opened the bottle and drank half of it down and offered it back to the officer.

"Hey you can keep it, and call me Martin, anytime I can help."

Rae turned back to the building. As she went she saw Jesse helping Graham Lewis into the waiting ambulance. She changed direction and walked over to them. "Excuse me a moment Doctor, could I have a quiet word with Mr. Lewis before he leaves?"

"Certainly Detective, he has the ambulance to himself, so you aren't holding anyone up." Jesse moved out of earshot as Rae climbed up into the back. 

She looked towards the front and called out, "Could you just wait a minute please?" Graham Lewis was sitting very quietly and Rae sat down opposite him. "How are you feeling now?"

"Very shaky. Dr. Travis has said that I'll have to stay in the hospital tonight." He shuddered.

Rae smiled at him and said. "Look Graham, I know you've been through a very frightening time, and that someone will be over to the hospital later to take a statement from you, but the best thing for you to do now is to get some sleep." She stood up to leave the ambulance. "Take care of yourself." Rae smiled again and started down the back step. 

"Officer, I'm sorry if I frightened you when I grabbed your ankle. Dr. Travis is going to phone my Mum, you know, I need her right now." The young man blushed but Rae understood what he meant.

Rae got down and shut the back door. Then she banged on the side and the ambulance drew away. She turned back to Jesse. "Hey Rae, how y'doin'? You look a little shaky yourself."

"I'm OK, Jesse, nothing a hug wouldn't cure, but I don't want to cover you in blood."

Jesse smiled, "How about this then." He placed his hand carefully on her shoulder and kissed her gently on the lips. Rae felt the familiar tingle run up her spine. 

"Thank you Doctor." She smiled at him. "I don't know what time I'll get to Bob's tonight. But I **will** get there." With that she turned back towards the building, took a deep breath and returned to the carnage that she knew waited within.

It was more than two hours before Steve and Rae were able to head back to the station. She had felt a bit useless at times. Her experiences in London hadn't prepared her for this, and so she had to wait back and follow everybody else's lead. She didn't like it; _I guess I'm a doer, not a follower._ But in the end Steve said that they were done and they could leave.

It was just after 3.00 when they finally sat at their desks. Rae had changed into the spare t-shirt that she kept in her car, the blood soaked one had gone straight in the bin. _Trash, I'm sure that is trash._ Steve started typing up the report on the pool hall shooting and tried to find out why the shooter had carried out a gang style execution and the random shootings in the same incident. Somehow it didn't sit right.  Meanwhile Rae took out the report cards and attendance records for Hana and Terry and tried to get her mind back to their other case.

Remembering what Ms Howard had said about parent night in the staff room Rae looked through Hana's report card. She had certainly been a little artist. Her marks for art were very high. Her English had been good too, which was strange considering that Ms Howard thought that her narrative wasn't up to the standard of the pictures in her biology lessons. In fact the report from Ms Howard was the worst by a long way. She had written that she felt that the child had no interest in the subject apart from the artistic applications and that she clearly did not understand the lessons. 

Rae picked up Terry's card and checked it next. It appeared that he was a popular child, with staff and children alike. All the entries said that he tried hard in lessons, but it was clear that his reading ability was holding him back. Ms Howard's remarks for Terry were positive and enthusiastic. She felt that he had great ability and was gratified that he was making the effort to improve his reading skills with extra curricular activities.

Rae was confused. If Ms Howard could be so gushing about Terry's desire to improve himself, why was she so negative about Hana's talents? From what she understood about the US education system her marks for English and Art were clearly above average. Next Rae turned to the attendance records. There was not really anything to be gained from them. Neither child had had any unauthorised absences, which didn't surprise her. Hana had been off school for two weeks after she broke her arm. A bit excessive, but she could imagine that Susan Marlow wouldn't have wanted her to go back to school too early. 

Rae shook her head. She needed a break from this. She picked up the two lists with the names of the children's friends on them and started phoning round. Within half an hour she had the three friends of Hana that the Marlow's and Ms Howard had mentioned along with one of Terry's mates written in a neat column on a piece of paper with a time next to each of them. _So that's Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon sorted out then._ She grimaced, no wonder the weekends went so quickly.

Rae got up and walked over to Steve's desk. She looked at his computer screen and waited until what seemed like a natural pause and then spoke. "How are you doing? Only I could do with somebody to bounce things off if you don't mind."

Steve turned round. "Not now Rae, I really want to get this sorted so that it's out of the way and I can get back to the other case. I tell you what, why don't you go over to the hospital, my Dad'll be finishing his shift soon. You can talk it over with him, and then go to Bob's from there with Jesse." I'll finish up here and meet you there. Maybe we can talk at the restaurant if we have a quiet period."

Rae knew when she wasn't wanted. She also knew that her partner was tired and irritable because he couldn't help her. "OK Sir, I'll see you later."

Rae picked up all the relevant information. She went over to the photocopier and took copies of the report cards, attendance records and the notes that she had made over the past five days, and then she filed the originals away. As she walked out of the squad room she saw a middle aged woman walking over towards Steve's desk with Martin Robertson. Rae smiled at them both and headed for her car.

She was surprised to see that it was 5.15 as she sat in solid traffic. _Just like London._ Slowly she inched her way forward and half an hour later she arrived at Community General. As Mark was waiting for her in ER she guessed, correctly, that Steve had phoned ahead. Jesse came out of a side room and smiled at her.

"Hi there, is this the reception committee?" 

"Sure is, let's go to the Doctor's Lounge, there was nobody else in there just a minute ago, so it should be private."

Rae sat down with a glass of water by her side and the papers neatly in front of her. "Look, before we start, I have to say that I've never done this before, discussed a case with outsiders I mean, no offence, but if I'm not giving you enough information you will have to ask me for more OK? It's not that I don't trust you, I do, even if I didn't, I know that Steve does, and that's good enough for me."

Jesse smiled at Rae and Mark put his hand on hers. "Whatever you say in this room will be confidential, between you, us, Amanda and Steve, is that OK honey?"

Rae nodded, took a deep breath and started to explain her problems to the two men in front of her. She told them how she'd felt when she had first met with Susan Marlow and the different way she and Marie Tennant had dealt with their initial grief. About how frightened she had been as she realised that Mrs. Tennant was going to hurt her. With difficulty she explained the helplessness she had felt when Steve rang and told her that there had been another attack.

Then she moved on to what they had learnt today.  She talked about the differences between the report cards. How the language seemed to be completely different in the biology section even though the same person had written it. How the reports from other teachers didn't seem to match those of Leticia Howard. She also mentioned the difference in the body language from when the teacher had been talking about Hana and then Terry. 

By the time Rae had finished she realised that she felt about 20lbs lighter. Suddenly she felt her eyes fill with tears and she stood up and looked away. She felt Jesse's hand on her shoulder. "What is it Rae? What's the matter?"

Rae willed the tears back. She smiled at the two concerned faces in front of her and said "I think I didn't realise just how much I needed to tell all of that to somebody else. I'm sorry; it's been such a strange week. You know I wish I drank, I could do with something right now!"

Jesse looked down at his watch. It was 7.00 pm; Rae had been talking for just over an hour. "Oh, I'm supposed to be at Bob's in fact I was supposed to be there an hour ago. I'll just go and give them a ring through, I'll be right back."

Jesse moved over into the Sleep Room and Rae turned to Mark. "So what do you think?"

"Can I take these files home with me? I'm off this weekend, Steve was going to bring his home for me, but I know he's tied up with that shooting this afternoon just like Amanda. I'm not coming straight to Bob's I'll probably come over later. Once I've had time to think about what you've told us I'll let you know what I think, is that OK?"

Rae gratefully handed the files over. "That's fine Mark, to be honest, my brain has had enough for today. I'll be glad to put this all away until tomorrow morning."

Jesse came back into the room. "The place is just livening up, Alex is a bit pushed, so if you're ready Rae we should head over there."

"Fine I'll follow you in Tom." The two men looked at her. "My car, Tom, it's short for tomato."

"Oh right. I'll see you later, Jesse, Rae." Mark waved his hand and disappeared down the corridor. 

Jesse shut the door to the Doctor's Lounge, and turned back into the room. He put his arm around Rae and guided her to the sofa. "Before we go, are you really alright? This case is a strain for somebody who has lived here a while, let alone somebody who just arrived last week."

Rae smiled at the face before her, _oh, but he is cute_ she thought. "Yeah I'm better now, but be prepared, I think there'll be a storm before this is finished, and I would like you to be around when it breaks. She leant over and kissed him gently on the lips. "As much as I would like to stay here and do this for a while, I guess we'd better go and relieve Alex hadn't we?"

Jesse nodded, but said "5 minutes, he can wait 5 minutes." Rae felt his hands go round behind her head and she kissed him longingly, her body aching for more, but she knew that this was neither the time nor the place. Slowly she pulled away from him. 

"Come on, we can carry this on later." They walked hand in hand down the corridor and only parted when they both got to their cars. They pulled out into the evening traffic and headed for the best barbeque restaurant in town.

The place was buzzing when they arrived. Jesse headed for the kitchen. Rae could see Steve was already there, serving tables with Alex. She walked over to him. "Howdy partner," she laughed. "Sorry, I've always wanted to say that. Anything I can do to help?"

Steve smiled at her. "Fancy waiting tables again? We could use the help. Another pair of hands is always welcome."

"Of course, as long as I get fed again for my trouble." Steve nodded and Rae headed for the kitchen to get a pad and an apron. Jesse was directing operations and cutting up salad. She walked over to him.

"Hi, I'm going to wait tables for a while after I have phoned my kids, can I grab a mineral water and leave it out here?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll get that sorted for you. Don't want to keep the customers waiting." 

Rae stuck her tongue out at him and Jesse laughed. "So that's what it looks like, I had wondered." Rae felt herself blush up to her roots. She hurried away, covered in confusion.

Rae went out the back and put a call through to her ex husband's number. Her daughter knew that her mother was going to ring and she answered the phone "Mummy!" Rae felt tears rise in her eyes. _Oh I have missed them, just the sound of their voices is wonderful_. She could hear her two sons in the background even though it was 4.00 o'clock in the morning in England.

Rae came back into the restaurant 15 minutes later, feeling great, she couldn't understand how anybody could not miss their children when they were away from them. She looked out through the service hatch and groaned. She had thought it was busy on the Monday night when she'd been here, _was that really my first night with my new friends, so much has happened since then_, but it was a walk in the park compared to a Friday night. 

Rae carried another set of empty plates through to the kitchen, smiled at Alex who was loading the dishwasher and grabbed her drink. "Sorry Alex no time to chat!" There was another group waiting to be seated. It certainly wasn't going to slow down any time soon, and it was 10.00 already. She took a deep breath and went back to work. As she walked back up behind the counter she saw Mark come in through the door. She looked round, both Jesse and Steve were busy. She saw an empty stool and put a reserved sign by it. 

Mark walked towards her. "I have your reservation here for you Sir," she smiled and indicated the stool.

"Thank you Rae, how's it going? Has it been like this all evening?"

"Sure has, I may sleep for a week. What can I get you Mark?"

"Just a coffee for now, I ate before I came out."

"Hey," a loud voice called out from behind Mark. "I was here before him, and he's only having a coffee. I haven't eaten since lunch.  I want to see the manager." The man put his hand out and grabbed Mark by the collar. 

Suddenly he felt a vice like grip on his wrist. "Take your hand off him, or I will remove it for you!" Mark realised that the furious voice was Rae's. The customer turned to say something and saw a police shield staring him in the face. 

"I suddenly lost my appetite." He said and he turned and stormed out. 

"Mark I am so sorry, are you alright?"

"Dad, what happened?" Steve and Jesse came charging across the room.

"It's OK. Rae sorted it out. I think he'd definitely had something to drink before he got here, even if he hadn't eaten. It's fine now, honestly, but I think I'll have my coffee black if you don't mind."

The restaurant had gone completely silent while they watched what was happening to Mark, but now the noise level rose again, and people turned back to their meals. 

"I didn't mean any harm, Steve, I just put a reserved sign on this seat so that your father could come straight in and sit down. You did say he's a partner here didn't you?"

"You know I don't get this type of treatment from you two, I think she should come here more often."

"Are you sure you're OK Mark?" Jesse had a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine! Stop making a fuss and get back to the business of making me money!" he smiled at everybody and turned back to his coffee.

The late evening was uneventful, and at a little after 11.00 Rae and Jesse were sitting alone in the restaurant, a mineral water each, just holding hands and talking. 

Rae gave a yawn, "Oh I'm sorry, it's not the company honest." She smiled.

Jesse let go of her hand and said "Come on, leave your car here tonight. I'll drive you home."

"I don't want to go home Jesse," she said, quietly. "We can't do what I want to do at the beach house." She reached over and pulled him towards her. Once again Jesse was transported he knew not where. 

"Rae, are you sure? It's only been five days, I don't want to rush you."

"Jesse, I'm sure, really sure, I want you to take me home with you. I can pick my car up in the morning just like you said and then go on to the station from here. I have to interview friends of those two children tomorrow, so I'll need my car."

"Follow me then, it won't take any longer, but you can stay later in the morning." He grinned at her wickedly.

They got up and walked out of the restaurant together. Jesse made sure that everything was locked up and secure, and then they went to their cars, and headed off into the night.

Jesse opened the door to his apartment and let Rae walk inside. She dropped her jacket onto the back of a chair, which was by the door. Jesse took her by the hand and they sat down together on the couch. Rae snuggled up against Jesse and felt safe and secure. Now she was here, she had no intention of hurrying what was to come, she knew that she had only known him since Monday, but it felt as if they had been together a lot longer than that. She turned her face up to Jesse and smiled.

Jesse looked at her, this girl he had only met at the beginning of the week. He didn't know what it was about her, but he knew that this was right. He leant over and began to kiss her. This time it was Rae's hands that went around to the back of his head and she pulled him down towards her. She ran her fingers through his hair, and he felt her tongue as it went deep into his mouth. He responded to her kisses and for a while there was no sound or movement in the room apart from their two bodies next to each other. 

Slowly Rae began to rock her body up and down against Jesse, he groaned and began to move in time with her. "Oh God Rae, that feels wonderful, but we'll have to take it next door." Jesse slowly stood up and reached for Rae's hand. She took it in her own and they walked through to the bedroom. 

As soon as they were through the door, Rae began to kiss Jesse again. He felt her pull his shirt out from his jeans and then she began to undo the buttons. His hands found her hair and he twisted and turned a couple of locks of it as he felt her fingers feather light moving down his chest. She pushed the shirt off his shoulders and it fell in a heap to the floor. Then she guided him over and onto the bed. She straddled him and leant over and kissed him once more. Then she moved her lips and they began to trace a pattern over his chest. She found and sucked at each nipple in turn, and he began to gasp. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back up to him. He needed to kiss her again; he needed to feel her in his mouth again. 

Rae put her fingers up to his lips. "Not yet, I have something else I need to do first." She smiled at him, and returned to his chest. He could feel her lick and kiss him as she made her way down to the belt buckle on his jeans. Slowly she pulled the belt undone and started on the buttons underneath. She pulled the jeans down and off, taking his socks with them. Then she slowly ran her finger up the length of his erection through the material of his boxer shorts. 

Jesse thought that he was going to explode. "Oh Rae," he couldn't say anything else. He reached forward and pulled her towards him again. He kissed her with a passion that surprised them both. God how he wanted this woman, "Come here, it's my turn now." His voice was husky as he rolled over on the bed so that Rae was underneath. As she looked up at him he took her by the hands and pulled her into a sitting position. He pulled her t-shirt up over her head and then pulled her again until she was standing. He undid her jeans and let them fall next to his. Then he gently put his fingers into each side of her knickers and got rid of them too. He buried his face in the curls between her legs and soon Rae was moaning and running her fingers through his hair. 

"Oh God Jess, no, don't stop." But Jesse had pulled away, he reached up and removed her bra, and they fell back onto the bed together. He covered one of her nipples with his mouth and sucked and played with it. Rae writhed underneath him, pleasure coursing through her. She groaned and called his name, and he moved over to her other breast and did the same again. 

Time seemed to stand still as first Jesse then Rae moved their partner to higher levels of pleasure than they had thought possible. Rae slid Jesse's boxer shorts down and off and took him into her mouth. She felt him move with her as she ran her tongue around the top and rubbed her lips up and down the length of him. Then when she was sure that he couldn't take any more she stopped and moved away from him. 

"Rae, what, what happened?" Jesse turned to her. 

"I want you in me, Jess, now, right now." He nodded, and she lay down on the bed. Jesse moved over her, and heard her gasp as he slid into her warm wet body. Slowly they began to move together, Jesse ran a hand over her breasts again, and she raised her body beneath him. "Oh Jess. Yes. Yes." 

He felt her body tighten around him "Rae, oh my God Rae," he called out and he moved faster and faster, and suddenly their worlds exploded together.

Slowly he removed himself from her and lay down beside her.  "Thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you." Then she placed her head on his shoulder and they lay lost in the moment. They must have fallen asleep there, because when Jesse woke a few hours later, Rae still had her head on his shoulder and she was sleeping soundly. He smiled at her and turned his head slightly, then he shut his eyes again, and neither of them moved until the morning.


	6. Saturday

**Suffer Little Children**

**Saturday**

Rae was the first to wake as the sun shone in through the window. Her watch alarm told her that it was 7.00. She didn't have to be in until 8.30, so she stood up and lazily stretched, then she headed for the bathroom. She turned the shower on and let the water wash over her, she smiled as she remembered back to last night, and ran her hands over her body. She heard Jesse come into the room, and then he was there in the water with her. She felt his hands covered with soap run down her back and round and over her breasts. She turned to him and kissed him as the water washed away the suds. Jesse pulled her towards him and she felt him hard and erect against her body. 

"I want you Rae, again." His voice was husky and suddenly Rae knew that she needed him, right now, as well. He pulled her from the shower and they fell soaking wet onto the bed. This time their lovemaking was fast, it had an urgency about it that hadn't been there the night before. 

"Jess, just take me, here, any way that you can." Rae's sounded breathless as she turned toward her lover. She bent over on the bed and Jesse penetrated her from behind. He leant forward and stroked one of her breasts. They moved together hard and fast and it was over very quickly. But it didn't matter; they had both needed it to be that way. When they parted they rolled together and kissed and explored each other's bodies some more. They knew that they were both spent, but they just couldn't let the other leave. 

Slowly the passion died, and Rae got up off the bed. "Jess, I have to get ready for work. I'm going to take another shower, alone this time. But I'll be back for more." She paused. "That is if you want me to."

"RAE!" Jesse's voice was loud and harsh. "I would never do that if I wasn't in it for the long haul." He sounded hurt and Rae turned back to him.

"I'm sorry, Jess, I didn't mean it quite like that. It's just that… well… I'm sorry… I don't know why I said that." Rae turned and ran into the shower room. _What a stupid thing to say, how to ruin a wonderful relationship in one easy lesson! _ She turned the water onto cold and let it run like that for the duration of her shower. She got dried and dressed and then called out to Jesse. "Do you have a t shirt I could borrow?"

"Middle drawer." Jesse had gone into the kitchen, his voice sounded short and distant. Rae pulled a grey top with a black neckband on and followed him out. 

"Jesse, I'm sorry, I really am. Please don't let it ruin a wonderful night." Jesse looked at her; he couldn't think why she would have said what she did. 

"Do you think I'm the type of man who would make love to a woman and then just walk away?"

"No, no I don't, but that doesn't mean I haven't had it happen to me. Oh Jesse, please," the tears started to fall then and Jesse was at her side in an instant. 

"Shhh, it's all right, I'll be right where you want me to be, for as long as you want me to be there." He kissed the tears as they fell down her cheeks, and then he began to kiss her properly again. 

"I have to go. I don't want to but I must. I'll be finished by 2.30 do you think we could go somewhere this afternoon if you're not working? Somewhere quiet and peaceful?"

I'm supposed to be working, but Dr. Collins owes me a favour. I'll pick you up at the station at 3.00 pm. You can leave your car there. I'll take you to the Japanese Gardens. They're beautiful and very serene." 

"Thank you Jesse, thank you for a wonderful night, and for being so understanding. I hope we both have a quiet day." She headed down towards her car, turning as she got there to wave at the figure looking out of the window. She saw him blow her a kiss and she pretended to catch it, and blow one back. Then she got into her car and started the journey back to reality.

Steve was sitting at his desk when Rae walked in. He looked up at her and smiled. "You know Jesse's got a top just like that." Rae stuck her tongue out at him dropped the daily paper on her desk and headed for the water cooler. 

She wandered back towards Steve's desk and started to describe their day. "The first interview is with Sally Thomas, then Crystal Downes and Rachel Simpson. Simon Bilton's on holiday for two weeks so we'll have to leave him. Tomorrow afternoon we have Carlos Moya, unfortunately without Simon, Carlos is the only friend of Terry's that we have to talk to. Rachel was Hana's best friend, but they're out this morning and won't be back until lunchtime. 

She sat down on the edge of the desk and considered this man before her. She had a feeling that she would see another side of him today as they interviewed these children who'd lost one of their best friends. "Did you read the report cards and attendance records?" Steve nodded. "I had a long talk with Jess and your Dad last night and I surrender. I know now why you talk to them and get them to help you. They're your safety valve aren't they? I felt a different person after I'd shared the case with them."

Steve looked at her. He hadn't quite thought of it like that, but she was right. They **were** his back up. He needed them to help him and keep him sane as much as they wanted to be involved in what he did. "Right, we'd better be off." He paused for effect. "Your car or mine?"

"You're kidding right? You would travel in Tom." Rae was wide eyed in amazement.

"When you were in the hospital, I noticed that people reacted differently when I drove your car. _I seem to remember I wasn't going to tell her this._ As we're going to be seeing young children today and tomorrow I thought we might be better travelling in your car." He smiled sheepishly. "What do you think?"

"Fine, Tom it is. Lets ride partner."

"Don't tell me, you always wanted to say that too!"

"No, it just seemed appropriate for the moment." She smiled at Steve, picked up the files from her desk and headed towards her little car. 

Steve sat in the passenger seat and pushed the seat right back. Rae looked over at him, "You know my sister is almost 6 foot tall. I would love to have a few more inches. Be able to reach tins in the supermarket, not be the one to always paint the skirting boards that sort of thing." 

"What?"

"Skirting boards, um the bit of wood at the bottom of the wallpaper, before the floor?"

He smiled at her. "Oh, baseboard! Come on, or we'll be late." Rae nodded and Tom drove out into the Saturday morning traffic. 

They reached their first house about 10 minutes before the appointment time. Steve looked over at his partner and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you OK with this Rae, after what happened with Mrs. Tennant?"

Rae smiled at Steve, she covered his hand with her own. "Yes, I'm fine, I can understand why she did it, so it makes it a little easier to deal with, besides I don't think I'm in any danger at the moment do you?"

A little girl looked out of the window and then the front door opened. Rae got out of the car and smiled at the man standing there. "Are you Detective Yeager?"

"Yes, Mr. Thomas, we were a little early, we didn't want to disturb you." 

"That's fine, won't you come in?" Steve walked up the drive and they went into the house together. Steve shook hands with Sally's father, "I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan and this is Detective Reagan Yeager." He turned slightly to face the girl sitting on the floor. "You must be Sally." 

"Yes Lieutenant."

"Hey, you can call me Steve, and this is Rae." He smiled at Sally and held out his hand. He was surprised and gratified when she didn't shake it, but used it to pull herself up. 

Rae looked around and saw Sally's mother come in from the back of the house. She smiled at the woman who looked extremely worried. "Good morning Mrs Thomas, I'm Detective Yeager, we spoke on the phone yesterday. _Was it only yesterday, it seemed much longer than that?_

"Do you think that we could start Detective? We thought it would be best to sit at the table." Mrs Thomas pointed towards the dining table that was pushed up against the wall of the living room. 

"Yes of course, but wouldn't Sally be more relaxed about the whole thing if we did it in here?"

"No, we always have our family meetings around that table, she's used to talking over problems there, that's why we chose it."

Rae had a feeling that this was running away from her, and they hadn't even started yet! She turned to Sally and smiled. "Well, we're ready when you are." The girl got up and walked over to the table. 

When they were all seated, Steve turned to Mr and Mrs Thomas and explained, "All we need to do is ask Sally a few questions. There's no possibility that she's done anything wrong. We just need to find out all we can about Hana, and her friends are the best people to tell us that."

Rae looked over at Sally. She looked completely at ease, more so in fact that when she had been sitting on the floor. _Well I always say that mothers know everything! _"Had you been friends with Hana for long?" They had decided that Rae would ask the questions for the girls and Steve for the boys. Sexist, but they thought it would work better that way.

"They went to 4 year old kindergarten together and then they went through the school system together after that." Mrs Thomas smiled down at her daughter.

"Did you play together after school, or go on sleepovers together?"

"Quite a bit, especially in the summer when they weren't at school. They have so much time then don't they, and we were glad that Hana was such a nice little girl." Mrs. Thomas was clearly a woman who was going to answer all the questions if she could. 

Suddenly Steve began to cough. Rae looked over at him, he seemed to be in some distress, but she thought she caught a wink. "Mrs. Thomas do you think you could get my partner a drink of water, or something? Steve, I think you'd better go and get some air, you know what happened the last time. We'll be fine here, won't we Sally?" The child nodded and Steve and Mrs Thomas headed toward the kitchen.

"Will he be alright?" Mr. Thomas looked worriedly after his wife. 

"Yes, Mr. Thomas, it'll pass in a few minutes." She turned back to Sally. "We were talking about sleepovers weren't we?"

"We had one for my birthday last month. Just the four of us. It was really good. We watched videos and played cd's until 10.00 o'clock and had soda and potato chips in bed. We made lots of crumbs though." Sally seemed more than happy to talk to Rae now that her mother had left the room.

"Did you play games, you know consequences, truth or dare, things like that?" 

"We played truth or dare. Crystal told me that she kissed Simon Bilton!" Sally giggled. 

"What about Hana what did she admit to?"

"Oh nothing like that!" Sally was enjoying herself now. "She said she loved Angel, but we knew that anyway," Sally stopped talking. 

Rae saw a shadow pass across her face, _don't come back yet, don't come back_. She pleaded silently. 

Sally took a deep breath. "She said that she hated Ms Howard, but I don't think that was true, Hana liked everybody, she was lovely. Oh Hana, I want her to come back." Sally looked up and saw her mother coming back into the room. Suddenly her face crumpled and she started to cry. She flung her chair back and ran into her mother's arms. She sobbed and her body shook. Rae looked down at the table, she didn't want to intrude.

Mr Howard put his hand on her arm. "Thank you Detective, Sally hasn't cried since she heard the news, I hope she has helped you, because you have certainly helped her."

Rae looked down at the notes she had taken; she didn't think that she would get any more out of the little girl now. But she had one more question that she had to ask. "Sally, I know that you're hurting right now, but can you answer me one more thing?" 

The little girl nodded. "Do you know if Hana had a diary that she kept anywhere, or notes that she wrote to herself?"

"No, I don't think so. Rachel was her bestest friend."

Rae got up from the table. She shook hands with Mr Thomas and crossed over to where Sally was sitting with her mother. They went to rise, but Rae held out her hand. "No, please don't get up. We'll be going now." Rae crouched down to Sally's level. "Thank you Sally for you help. I know you miss your friend. Do you have a picture of her?" Sally nodded her head. "Take a look at it every now and then, it will help, eventually."

Rae looked over at Steve, "You OK Sir?"

"Yes fine thank you, I think it's time we left. Thank you for your time, we'll see ourselves out."

As they walked back down towards the car, Rae put her hand on his back. "You were just acting, right?"

"Yes, Detective, just acting." He smiled at her. "You know, we're getting to be a team, aren't we? You did well in there, in fact Rae, I think you've handled the whole of this case well so far." 

Rae was delighted. "Thank you Sir, that means a lot to me. I know you miss Cheryl, I miss my partner Dave as well, but we'd only been together for two months, so it isn't the same." Rae slid into her seat and picked up the appointment list. "Right, it's Crystal Downes next, she was at the sleepover that Sally mentioned." Rae continued to fill Steve in on what he had missed while he had kept Mrs Thomas occupied in the kitchen.

The Downes lived in an extremely large house; Steve was surprised that she went to St Mary's Elementary. Surely if she lived in such a huge house her parents could have afforded to send her to private school. He said as much to Rae as she parked her car next to a sleek black Jaguar. 

Rae rung the doorbell, and she heard it echo inside the house. The picture of gentile living was completed when a butler opened the door to them. "Good Morning, madam, may I help you?"

"Ah yes, I'm Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, and this is Lieutenant Steve Sloan, LAPD, we're here to see Mr and Mrs Downes."

"I will let them know you are here, would you please come this way?" The butler indicated that they should wait on a large plushly upholstered seat in the main hall. He then turned and disappeared out of sight.

"Detective **Inspector** Yeager? I thought we were dropping the Inspector."

"Oh come on, I could never be as English as that guy, I just thought that I'd give him the complete works. But I'll drop it again as soon as we leave."

The butler returned and Steve and Rae followed him to a beautifully decorated room with views out over the ocean. There were three people sitting in the room, Mr Downes rose from his seat as they entered and walked to meet them. He held his hand out to Rae and this time she was delighted to feel a firm handshake. "Detective Inspector," he then turned to Steve, "Lieutenant, please won't you both sit down? Can we get you anything to drink?" They both shook their heads and the butler discreetly left the room.

Crystal Downes was a beautiful child. There was no way around it. Sally had been a nice, pleasant child, she'd had short brown hair, and a happy smile, but Crystal was a golden child. She had dark blonde hair, and an angelic face. Rae smiled at her and she got a shy grin in return. Mrs. Downes had her arm protectively around her shoulders. She looked up at Rae, "Detective Inspector, we're happy for Crystal to answer any questions you may have. We've explained to her why we think you need to see her. So if you're ready we can begin."

Rae smiled at Crystal and said, "I know that you and your parents all heard our long titles, but you can call us Rae and Steve." Crystal smiled again, Rae could see that the child had been crying, but she seemed to be quite calm at the moment.

"Had you known Hana very long Crystal?"

Crystal nodded. Her mother squeezed her hand, "You'll have to speak to Rae dear, it is important that they know what you have to say." Rae smiled again and saw Crystal take a breath.

"I went to kindergarten with Hana, she was my friend." 

Mr. Downes cut in. "Crystal, Hana and Sally all went to kindergarten together when they were four years old. We had planned to send Crystal to a private school when she reached five, but they were so happy together that we decided to wait. At that age her happiness seemed far more important."

Rae was warming to this friendly and caring couple. She had no doubt that Crystal would grow up to be a beautiful, sensible and popular girl. No matter how much money she had in the bank, she would not become aloof; her parents would simply not allow it.

She took her notepad out of her pocket and put it on the table. "Did you play with Hana after school, or go on sleepovers together?"

Crystal smiled again. "I couldn't play after school, I live too far away, but I went to a sleepover at Sally's house and I'm going to have one here soon." Crystal swallowed hard, "Hana won't be able to come though," she said simply.

"What did you do at Sally's sleepover? You know when I was little we didn't have them, but my daughter had one recently, she played truth and dare, did you?"

Crystal nodded her head. "Yes," she looked at her parents and then she leant forward, "I told them that I'd kissed Simon Bilton, it was nice too, but I didn't tell them that bit, because they all thought it was yucky!"

"Crystal!" She looked guiltily at her mother; Rae desperately shook her head hoping to ward off any telling off she thought the girl might get. Mrs Downes spotted her and turned her look into a laugh.

Steve turned towards Crystal's father, "If they're going to talk about sleepovers and kissing boys, would you mind if I did get a coffee?" 

"Of course not, Lieutenant, won't you come with me?" The two men walked out of the room together and Rae smiled across at Mrs Downes and mouthed _thank you_.

"So, Crystal, who else told the truth? Rachel or Sally?"

"No, they were chicken to tell the truth, they did dares. Rachel had to sit with a piece of chewing gum on her nose for ten minutes! And Sally had to stick her tongue out at her Mum." Crystal giggled. We had such fun."

"What about Hana, Crystal, what did she do?" Rae waited as Crystal looked down at the table. She saw her mother squeeze her hand again and then Crystal looked straight at her.

"She said that she hated Ms Howard, Sally didn't believe her, she told me afterwards that she thought she was lying, but I know she meant it. Ms Howard was horrid to her, she didn't even like her pictures and Hana was the best one of us at drawing." Crystal stopped, she had rushed the whole sentence out, but Rae had a feeling there was more.

"There's something else isn't there Crystal, something else that Hana told you?" 

Crystal nodded. "I haven't told anybody, because she made me promise."

Rae took a deep breath, "I need you to tell me Crystal. It could be very important. I don't want to upset you, but Hana's dead and I really need to know who hurt her, can you tell me that?"

It seemed that Rae had used the right words because Crystal nodded. "It was Ms Howard, Hana told me that she had hit her one day and it hurt! Teachers aren't supposed to do that are they? Hana said that Ms Howard had told her that if she told she would give her a bad report card!"

Rae looked at the little girl sitting across the room from her. "No, Crystal they're not supposed to do that. Don't worry, I won't tell her that I know." Crystal looked relieved, but Mrs Downes looked horrified.

Rae could tell that the mother wanted to finish the interview, she could understand that, but she needed one more thing. "Crystal, did Hana have a diary or somewhere that she wrote down her special thoughts?"

Crystal shook her head, "I don't think so? Maybe Rachel would know." 

Rae stood up; "Thank you very much for your help Crystal. I know that you must miss her very much and Steve and I appreciate what you have done for us."

Rae turned back to Mrs Downes. "Please don't repeat anything that was said in this room today to anybody else. It may be a good idea to keep you daughter at home for a couple of days."

As Rae turned towards the door Steve and Mr. Downes came back into the room. Steve saw that Rae was finished so he waited by the door. As Rae crossed the room she held her hand out to Mr. Downes. "Your daughter has been very brave, and has been a great help. Thank you for allowing us to speak with her."

The butler came back into the room and escorted Rae and Steve back out to the car. Rae had the feeling that her little Tom wouldn't have made much difference to Crystal should they have needed a distraction. 

Steve sat in the passenger seat watching the traffic as Rae waited to join the main road back towards Rachel Simpson's house. "Well, I had a very interesting visit, how about you?"

"Oh yes! But why did you leave the room?"

"I was sitting there and I knew that I'd seen Mr. Downes before. Then all of a sudden it hit me. He's on the school board and at St Mary's Elementary School his picture was on the wall in Mr. Johnson's office. I thought it would be a good idea if I found out what the school thought of Ms Howard." He paused and looked over at Rae. "Right, your turn."

"Well, most of the information was the same as Sally's, but Crystal knew why Hana didn't like Ms owHHowHHHHHoward. Hana said that the teacher had hit her and it had hurt. She also told her that if Hana said anything she would make sure she had a bad report card. I'm not sure how Mrs Downes and I kept our tempers, but we did."

Rae drove quietly down the road; Steve could see that she had been badly affected by what the little girl had said. Slowly Rae turned to him and said "So what did Mr. Downes think of our Leticia?"

"Not a lot. He said that she didn't really fit in. He almost repeated word for word what Miss Brown said about those that didn't fit in moving on quite quickly. He said that he hoped she would, they had no complaints about her, she just hadn't gelled, I think he called it. He said you couldn't mistake her for anybody else as she floated down the halls between classes in all that flowing chiffon and stuff."

"Oh my," Rae's hand went up to her mouth. She checked her mirror and pulled over to the side of the road. She looked over at Steve and he could see that she had tears in her eyes. "I know who did it Steve! I know who killed those children, and I know what with. She did it; she killed them with one of those long scarves that she wears. They would leave those types of marks. How could a teacher do that, kill two of her pupils? My God Steve, she spoke at Hana's funeral!" A tear escaped down Rae's cheek, as she struggled to control herself. She knew that she had one more child to see, and to her mind it was the most important one. Rachel Simpson had been Hana's best friend "You know if Hana told Crystal all that, I would expect Rachel to know other things about what happened. This interview could be really important."

Rae looked at her watch; she couldn't believe it was one o'clock already. Steve checked the map; it was a little way back to Rachel's house. He put his hand on Rae's shoulder. "How about if I drive to the Simpson house?"

"You're just looking for an excuse to have another go in my car, right!" Rae attempted to joke, but her heart wasn't in it. "Thanks, I need to pull myself together, I can't let on to the Simpson's what I think. I know I'm right, but we have no proof, not yet and we need it."

Steve got out of the car and Rae slid across into his seat. He got back in the car, and as he slid the driver's seat back Rae slid her seat forward. They grinned at each other and Rae put her head back and closed her eyes.

The next thing she knew Steve was shaking her gently and telling her that they had arrived. "Sorry Steve, I didn't mean to nod off." He smiled at her warmly.

"Come on, you can do this! One interview and then the afternoon's yours. We'll spend a short time back at the station just to get our notes up to date, then we can meet up earlier tomorrow than we'd planned to go over everything before we go and see Carlos Moya. It'll be interesting to hear what he has to say about a child that Ms Howard is supposed to like. That sound OK to you?"

Rae nodded. She turned to look at Rachel Simpson's house. It was small compared to Crystal Downes house, _but then whose isn't_? She walked up the driveway and knocked at the door. She could hear excited barking from inside the house, it sounded like about three dogs. She looked at Steve, "I hope you like dogs."

"No, not very much and they definitely don't like me!" The door opened and Rae saw that she had underestimated. Four black Labradors came rushing out into the front garden, circled the grass a couple of times and then shot back inside. Realising that they'd missed the guests they came hurtling back out again. Rae who loved dogs, made a huge fuss of them, Steve tried to look as if he wasn't there, it didn't work, two dogs jumped up at him at the same moment and it was all he could do to stay on his feet.

"Boys come here!" a voice called out. The dogs dropped to the floor, turned round and headed back into the house. "I'm so sorry, they don't usually get away from me like that." A friendly looking woman came bustling towards them. I'm Jennifer Simpson, you must be Detective Yeager and Lieutenant Sloan won't you please come in?"

Rae stepped forward, "That's right. I'm pleased to meet you." Rae was extremely grateful for the interlude the dogs had provided. She'd been able to collect herself, and nobody would now realise just how much her stomach was churning or how angry she was becoming. 

Steve shook Mrs Simpson's hand "I want to ask you something before we come in. I need your permission to allow us to record your daughter's interview. We have a feeling that she may have some pertinent information, but we don't want to frighten her by showing her the recorder. If we don't get the information we think we will, I'll destroy the tape in front of you."

Mrs Simpson looked extremely worried, but she just nodded her head and carried on down the hallway. "Rachel, Rachel, come down honey." They headed towards the kitchen, and Mrs Simpson went straight to make them a drink. "Would you like a cup of coffee, or if you're extremely brave I have some herbal tea that my eldest daughter insists on drinking. Please take a seat at the table."

Steve laughed, and Rae said, "Yes please Mrs. Simpson, I would love a herbal tea."

"You're not from round here are you dear?" asked Mrs Simpson. 

"No, ma'am, I'm on secondment from London. I usually work for Scotland Yard. Lieutenant Sloan's normal partner is working there for about six months to a year and I'm over here."

They heard footsteps come down the stairs. A tall dark haired girl came in and sat at the table. Rae thought she was probably Mexican, she looked over at Mrs Simpson, there was no way that she was Mexican. Oh well, that part of it was none of her business. 

"This is Rachel, we adopted her when she was four years old. She's beautiful isn't she?"

"Mum!" She sounded embarrassed but Rae could tell that she was thrilled.

"Hi, my name's Reagan, but most people call me Rae, and this is Steve, do they call you Rae or Rach?"

"Yeah, most people call me Rach, but Hana, she called me Rae, I wouldn't let anybody else call me it. I don't think I ever will now."

Rae put her hand over the hand of Rachel Simpson. "I know that you've just lost your best friend, but I need to ask you some questions, is that OK?" Rachel nodded. "Can you tell me about the sleepover that you all went to at Sally's house?"

Rachel nodded. "It was for Sally's birthday. We went bowling, but Hana couldn't do it, because of her arm y'know? So we all bowled one extra ball each round for her. And she won!" Rachel smiled. "Then we went back to Sally's house and had pizza and fries for supper. We took soda and chips up to Sally's room, listened to Britney cd's for a while." Rachel paused and looked at her mother. She nodded her support and she continued. "We played truth or dare. I didn't want to play."

"Why Rachel, don't you like that game?" It was Steve who asked the question. His voice was quiet and gentle. She nodded. 

"Usually I do, but Hana didn't want to play, so I said I didn't either, I thought they might choose something else that way, but they didn't and I had to sit with chewing gum on my nose like forever! I could smell it for days."

Rae smiled at the girl. "What did Hana choose, truth or dare?"

Rae looked over at Rachel and she had to strain her ears to hear what she said next. "She said she wanted a truth question. I couldn't believe it. She had a big secret and she asked for a truth question!" 

"What did she say Rachel?"

"She just said that she didn't like Ms Howard, that was all." Rachel stood up from the table. "I don't want to talk any more."

"Rachel, we know that Ms Howard had hurt Hana, we don't know how badly but we know that Hana had said that it hurt. Did you know that?" Steve was talking a little louder now. It seemed to do the trick. Rachel looked over to him and nodded her head. "What did she say Rachel, about Ms Howard, not at the party, but to you?"

Rachel looked at her Mum again; she came over and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. Rachel looked up at her then continued, "She said that she hated Ms Howard, that she didn't like her pictures, she said that she had told her they were rubbish, Hana was great, she could draw anything. Then another time she said that Ms. Howard had hit her hard on her back. She said it made her cry. I hated her for what she did to Hana."

"Did she ever hurt you Rachel or anybody else that you know of, maybe Terry Tennant?" Rae could see that Steve was clenching his fists under the table, but his face was relaxed. 

"Terry, no she **loved** Terry! He couldn't do anything wrong. Even when he gave stupid answers she didn't say anything. One time, he said that a worm was a bird just to see what she'd say!"

"And what did she say?" Steve's voice was interested; this was the other side of this woman that he had wanted to hear about.

"She said, '_almost dear, but not quite,'_ and then she asked somebody else."

"Can I ask you one more question Rachel?" Rae looked at girl and her mother standing together. "Did Hana have a diary, or anything like that, that she wrote things in?"

"NO! No she didn't. I don't want to talk any more, I'm sorry, I want to go now."

"That's OK Rachel, thank you very much, you've been very helpful." Rae stood up and watched as the young girl walked back up the stairs.

Steve took the tape out from under the table. "I want to keep this Mrs Simpson, I will send you a consent form to sign, in case we need to use it."

Mrs Simpson looked very shaken. "I can't believe that. I don't think I want Rachel going to that school any more."

"It may be a good idea to keep her at home for a few days. We'll be in touch, hopefully very soon. I would be obliged if you wouldn't repeat anything that was said here today. Please thank your daughter for us; she's been a great help. If you think of anything else, you can reach us on the numbers on this card." Steve held out his hand.

Mrs Simpson nodded her head and put the card on the hall windowsill by the phone.

Steve and Rae walked back down the hall, and out into the sunlight. But the hot sun couldn't warm either of them. Rae wondered if she would ever feel warm again.

Rae sat in the driver's seat of the car and looked over at Steve. She didn't say anything; she ran her fingers through her hair, sighed and started the car. "Rae, wait, we need to talk about all of this now, I don't think it can wait until tomorrow. Give Jesse a ring and ask him to meet us at the Beach House, I'll give Amanda a call, it'll be about 2.30 by the time we get there.  Rae nodded and picked up her phone. She dialled Jesse's number and waited. Her heart was heavy and she felt extremely tired. 

"Hi Rae, are you finished already?" Jesse's voice was light and happy on the other end of the phone.

"No, not really Jess, look instead of picking me up at the station, could you meet me at the Beach House? We really need to talk this through, Mark will be there, and Steve's going to call Amanda, I'll see you in a while, bye Jess."

Jesse looked at his phone, Rae had sounded terrible, and he had a feeling that the storm she had mentioned was getting pretty near. He walked back down towards the E.R. and checked his watch, he didn't have that much longer to work, Sunday afternoons weren't that busy, normally sports related injuries and people who had just discovered DIY!

Rae put her phone down and looked over to Steve, he had phoned Amanda and she was going to take the boys over to the Beach House straight away. The weather was good so they would be able to sit on the deck and CJ and Dion would be able to play below. This was not a case when they wanted the children to hear anything. Rae had a thought, she leant over and picked up the sheet of paper with Sally Thomas' information on it, then she picked up her phone and dialled. "Hello, Mrs. Thomas, this is Detective Yeager, I can't go into any details, but Lieutenant Sloan and I feel that it would be a good idea if you keep Sally at home for the next few days… No I'm sorry I can't give you any extra information… yes you could ring Mrs. Downes, or Mrs Simpson… OK, we'll be in touch."

Rae turned the key and Tom started up, she eased out into the traffic and tried to tune her mind into driving mode. She looked over at her partner and saw that Steve was looking out of the window, he was passing his phone from one hand to another, he too, it appeared, was having trouble switching off for a while.

"Steve, talk to me, about anything, let me think, I know, what about the other case, the pool hall shooting, you haven't given me all the information on that yet. Did you find out why the guy did what he did?"

Steve, gave himself a mental shake, and tried to focus on the shooting from the day before. "The shooter's name was Gary Daly, he was 26 years old, and he was, according to his landlady, a loner whose only hobby was pool.  Apparently the Starlight Pool Hall was a members only club, no guesses as to why, and they had turned Gary down. His landlady came into see me yesterday afternoon, just as you were leaving. Officer Robertson found a pad in Daly's room with drawings on showing how he was going to enter the building, and how he was going to line everybody up and kill them Mafia style. I guess things didn't go quite according to plan."

"Close enough! He still killed six people! That would have been headline news for days in England; I couldn't even find a mention of it this morning when I scanned the paper. So is that it then, case closed?"

"Yeah, we got the guy, six families get to organise funerals, three children loose a parent and the Captain gets a quick boost to his crime clear up figures." Steve was shouting by the time he had finished speaking. He brought his fist down on the dashboard with a loud bang. He shook his head. "Sorry Rae, it's not your fault." 

Rae said nothing; she knew she couldn't help, not at the moment. So they drove along in silence, each keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Rae drew up outside Steve and Mark's house and leant back in the seat for a moment. She didn't need to collect her thoughts; she had been trying to do that all the way over in the car. If she was honest she didn't want to go inside at all. She turned to her partner. "Sir, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, but you don't have to keep calling me Sir you know."

Rae smiled slightly, "Sometimes it just feels right. How many child abuse cases have you dealt with, ones that turn into murder I mean?"

"Not many, I've dealt with child deaths' before, we all have, nobody likes it, but I try to think positively, and hope that by doing the job that I do, I'm helping to keep other children safe by taking the wacko's who do this off the streets, why?"

"Well, I think the reason that I don't feel that I'm handling this very well, is that it's the first time I've had to deal with this. I've dealt with child abuse as well, but not often, oh I feel so, so, helpless, so angry, so oh I don't know!" Rae took her seatbelt off, opened her door, got out and slammed it shut. Steve got out as well and looked at her over the roof of the car.

"Rae, wait. I don't think that you are handling this badly, when it matters you're professional and in control of yourself, I take it as a compliment that you can relax enough around me to let you feelings show and you know as well as I do that it's a lot better than keeping them locked away inside you. So what do you say we go and discuss this lot with our safety valves huh?"

Rae nodded her head and waited for Steve to join her before they both walked up to the front door.

Steve unlocked the door and called out "Dad, we're home."

"Out here on the deck Steve, is Rae with you?"

"Yes Mark, I'm right here too."

They walked through the house and out into the sunshine. Amanda and Jesse were already there. Jesse got up walked over to Rae and kissed her gently on the lips, "Can I have a word with you before we get started?"

"Sure, I was just going to get changed, if you don't mind waiting a few minutes Mark?"

"Not at all, Rae, I can look at the information you have gotten from the children today while you're doing that, don't rush." He smiled indulgently at Rae and Jesse; they both blushed and moved back into the house.

Rae shut the door to her bedroom and Jesse put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright? You sounded so tense and upset on the phone."

Rae nodded, she wanted to lock the door and stay hidden away in here with Jesse instead of out there discussing all of this. "I know who did it Jess, I have no idea why but I know who."

"Who, who was it?"

"I can't tell you, not yet. I want you, Mark and Amanda to go through the evidence and then see if you agree with me."

"Does Steve?"

"Yeah, I think so. We're both so caught up in the feelings evoked by this case that we're frightened to let go, you know? I'm so close to that storm that I daren't let my guard down not for a second."

"So, no kissing and cuddling then?" asked Jesse, a wicked grin on his face. He desperately wanted to cheer her up, but he could understand her keeping her distance.

Rae shook her head and went over to the wardrobe and got out a sundress, it was yellow with small white flowers on it. She'd had it for a while and thought it was very pretty but it didn't get many outings in London. She walked into the bathroom, slipped out of her t-shirt and jeans and splashed some water on her face. Then she pulled the dress down over her head, ran her fingers through her hair and went back out to Jesse.

"Hey you look like a summer's day in that dress, it's real nice." He was pleased when he saw Rae blush and then give him a smile. He held his hand out and took hold of hers, Rae grabbed a pair of sunglasses off the dressing table and they headed back out to their friends. 

They could hear Steve's voice as they walked back towards the French doors. As they opened them Rae heard him say. "So you can see these are the notes that we took as we talked to the children today. We haven't put them into any sort of official document yet; these are just as they came. This, on the other hand," Steve held up the tape he had made at Rachel Simpson's house, "Is the sort of evidence we can use in court if we can get enough proof to make an arrest."

"Rae says that she knows who did it." Jesse was almost bouncing up and down. He knew it was a terrible case, but he suddenly felt so proud that she had worked it all out that he wanted everybody to know. 

"They know that Jess, I told them already."

"Did you tell them who?" it was Rae's turn to interrupt. She sincerely hoped that he hadn't, although she knew he didn't know that.

"No, not yet, I wanted to hear what Dad had to say about the evidence he's been looking at this morning. Besides, we've got no proof Rae, you know that."

"I didn't want you to say anything Steve, for all the reasons you just listed. I know we have means and opportunity, but we have no motive, and there has to be a motive. I can't believe that these children died for no reason, I can't and I won't" Rae's voice had been getting louder and louder, Jesse put his hand on her shoulder and she lowered her voice back down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout."

"That's OK." Mark smiled at her. "Shall I tell you who I think it was then, based on what I have read here? I have no proof either; it's just a hunch. I think the teacher killed those children, but I have absolutely no idea why."

"How did you work that out without the testimonies of the friends? We had nothing until we spoke to them." Steve was astonished. He looked over to Rae and was pleased to see that she was smiling. She walked over to Mark and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you Mark, thank you." She smiled at him.

"So you think that as well do you? Want to tell me how you made your decision or shall I go first?"

"No Dad you can go first, I want to see how you got there so fast."

"It was Rae's information on the funeral. I kept thinking about the floaty chiffon that she wore; I don't know if she wears it any other time, but I kept thinking about the scarf. That would leave the right kind of marks wouldn't it Amanda?

Amanda nodded. "Yes, I took another look at the strangulation marks. There is deeper bruising in the middle of the marks and then it is lighter along each side. You would get that kind of mark if a soft scarf like object was used. There is also a deeper mark on the back of the neck of each child. At first I thought it was where the knot of Hana's sling had dug into her neck, but when Terry had the same mark I realised it was where the scarf had been tied in a knot and then pulled tight."

Steve had wandered into the house while Amanda had been talking and now he returned with a cassette player. Amanda looked over the balcony and saw that her sons were playing nicely below. They'd bought cars with them and had made a racetrack in the sand. They were just getting lined up to start a race. She smiled indulgently and wondered how somebody in a position of trust could do such a thing. Sighing she pulled herself back to the conversation that was going on around the table and heard Rae begin to explain about the tape they were going to listen too.

"After we'd spoken to Crystal Downes and her parents we realised that Rachel Simpson probably could help us with some valuable information. If Hana had told Crystal that Ms Howard had hurt her, we reckoned that Rachel, as Hana's best friend, probably knew other things about what had happened." Rae paused and Steve continued in her place.

"So I decided that I wanted this interview taped. We managed to talk to Mrs Simpson alone before her daughter came downstairs, and she gave us permission to use the tape recorder. Her daughter didn't know about it, although I expect she's been told by now." 

"She seemed a very nice woman," said Rae,

"Yeah," said Steve, "except for the four Labradors." 

Rae smiled at the memory of the dogs and Steve, Mark, Jesse and Amanda looked at each other. "Dogs just don't like you do they son?" Said Mark with a smile.

"Shall we get on?" said Steve, but he was smiling now.

Rae took a deep breath. "Mark, I know you're very perceptive, I want you to tell me what you think when this tape's ended, I want to see if you agree with me. I think that Rachel Simpson's keeping something back from us. I'm sure that she knows something else and isn't telling us because of a promise she made to Hana."

Steve looked angry. "Why didn't you say that while we were there, we could have pushed her a little harder?"

Rae shook her head. "She's a frightened child Steve, one who's lost her best friend. I think that by tomorrow afternoon we'll know what it was she was keeping back. She'll tell her Mum and her Mum will ring us."

"I hope you're right Rae, because if that doesn't happen we'll be going back there after we've spoken to Carlos Moya." Steve still sounded angry, but there was nothing much he could do right now, not unless he went back over to the Simpson house. He would want any extra information on tape; so phoning wouldn't really be a good idea.

"Son, lets give it a little bit of time. If Rae's right, you'll have your information by tomorrow. Lets listen to the tape and see what we make of it."

The five friends sat around the table ¾ of an hour later and tried to put their thoughts into words.

"I agree with you Rae, there's something else, something she isn't saying.

Amanda looked at her boys again. They were still playing together nicely, how could a teacher hurt children. She couldn't understand it.

"How did she come across to you Rae, as a woman I mean?" Amanda turned and asked. 

"When I met her at the funeral I thought she was quite nice, I thought she handled herself well when she spoke. But after we'd met her on her home ground so to speak I changed my opinion. I felt that she didn't think she needed to worry about us, not while she was in her workplace. Her mask slipped a few times and I saw the real woman underneath. Someone hard, someone who had her favourites, and if you weren't one of them, then you'd better look out. By the time we got back in the car I was very glad that she would never teach any of my children."

Jesse looked over at Rae and had a feeling he was about to start a storm. He thought he knew why this teacher had done what she had to Hana and he didn't like it one bit. "If you think that Ms Howard killed Hana do you think she was the one who broke her arm too?"

"Oh she was, there's no doubt about that, the finger marks we saw the first time Hana came in matched the ones found on her body after she died, size, length, if we could take a print I am sure that that would match too." Amanda was absolutely certain of her facts. Which made Jesse even more certain of his.

"Then I think I know why she did it. I can't begin to understand her motivation, or how she could let herself get so out of control, but I think she was jealous of Hana and her drawing ability and she broke her arm so she couldn't do it anymore, didn't you say that there were no pictures of hers up on the walls?"

Steve nodded, but Jesse wasn't taking any notice of him, his eyes were on his girlfriend. He could see that she was trying to keep herself together, but finally it seemed the anger and grief won, she stood up and went back into the house.

Jesse stood up as well. He looked at his friends around the table. Mark was also standing as if to follow Rae. "Mark please, let me go. I knew this was going to happen. She told me yesterday that there was a storm coming and that she wanted me to be there when it happened. I promise I won't leave her until she's OK." With that Jesse followed Rae through the house. He knocked on her bedroom door, but he entered without waiting for her to answer.

Rae was standing by the window shredding a tissue in her hands. She turned to Jesse and her face shocked him. He had expected her to be crying and in need of consolation, but her face was completely expressionless.

"How could she Jess, how could she break a little girl's arm, in two places because she could draw? And she spoke at her funeral Jesse, how cold is that?"

"I don't know if I'm right Rae, it was only an idea, I just thought how convenient that Hana hadn't been able to draw and do her work to the best of her ability especially at exam time."

"That woman should never have been a teacher Jesse. Surely they must have realised something was wrong, even though she hadn't been there very long." Rae suddenly went very still. 

"What Rae, what is it?" This wasn't going how Jesse had seen it. Rae wasn't in need of comfort at all. She was working on the case, here on her own. He mentally kicked himself. Just because they were used to working together, Rae had admitted to them that she wasn't. This was probably the way that she'd always worked and now that she'd got back into her own routine, she was beginning to flow.

"What Rae?" he said again. "What is it?"

"We need to find out where she was before she joined St. Mary's and if there were any cases of child abuse or child death while she was there." Rae headed towards the door. "Lieutenant, can I have a word with you please?"

Steve came over to Rae a confused look on his face. He too, it seemed, had expected her to break down. Mark looked at Jesse and mouthed '_storm_?" Jesse shook his head.

"We need to get information on Ms Howard before she was at St. Mary's. This is out of my league at the moment, I know how to get that information in London but not Los Angeles. How do we go about it?"

"Today we don't. It's Saturday remember? The education offices will be closed today.  First thing on Monday morning we'll get all the information we need. Look we've done as much as we can here today. We're both tired and need a break. I'm going surfing, to try and get away from all this, and I suggest you do something else as well. 

Rae looked at her watch. It was 5.00pm. So much for the Japanese Garden. "How about a run along the beach Jess. I need something to blow the cobwebs away, are you game?"

"Yeah, I have some kit that I keep here. How far do you want to go?"

"I have no idea, I've never run along sand before, it could all be over in five minutes!" Her voice seemed more relaxed already. But Jesse wasn't completely fooled. The storm hadn't happened yet, but he knew it was still there lurking somewhere.

After about 20 minutes Rae sank down on the sand. "Sorry Jess I have to stop. The backs of my legs are killing me. The sand really pulls on them doesn't it?"

"That's OK I could do with a break myself." He sat down next to her and looked out across the ocean. "I'm glad that you wanted to do this, because there was a problem with the Japanese Garden."

"Oh, what? Apart from the fact that it would have been closed by the time we got there."

"It wouldn't have mattered what time we got there, they don't open on the weekend! But I've found somewhere else peaceful and tranquil, that's open tomorrow, if you would like to go."

Rae had looked disappointed but now she looked at Jesse with interest. "Where, is it close to the beach?"

"No, it's called The Lake Shrine, and it's about 25 miles out of town, ¼ mile from PCH 1." Jesse paused. "They open at 12.30 pm on a Sunday. If you like," he continued a little shyly, "You could come home with me again and we could have a lazy Sunday morning and then spend the afternoon there. My shift pattern changes this weekend, so I get all of tomorrow off."

Rae put her hand over his, "I like the sound of that, thank you Jess." She leant over and kissed him gently. Then she stood up, brushed the sand off her shorts, gave herself a little shake and said "Last one to the Beach House is a rotten egg!" and she raced off down the beach.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Jesse had been caught completely by surprise; by the time he took off after her she was way in front of him. Slowly though he caught her up and by the time they got back to the familiar sand in front of Mark's house Jesse was beating her easily.

Rae collapsed onto the sand, trying to catch her breath. She made hand movements in Jesse's direction, but it was clear that speech would be a long time coming. Jesse could see the racetrack that CJ and Dion had made, but there was no sign of the boys. _Amanda must have left already_. Slowly Rae got her breathing under control and she sat up with her arms stretched out behind her holding her up. Jesse wandered up to the house, jogged up the steps and disappeared in through the door. A couple of moments later he returned with two bottles of water and went back the way he came, sat down on the sand and gave one of the bottles to Rae.

She nodded her thanks and unscrewed the top. Jesse could tell that she wanted to down it in one go, but she tried to drink it sensibly. Thirst seemed to be getting the better of her though so Jesse put his hand on the bottle. "Hey, slowly, or you'll get a stomach cramp."

"I know Jess, but I'm so thirsty." Her breath was steady now, and she put the top back on the bottle and let her head loll against Jesse's shoulder. "I must be more out of shape than I thought. As soon as I get a place of my own, I'm going to have to find a gym to join."

"Rae, Jesse," They spun round to see Steve out on the deck waving at them to come inside. They walked up towards the house hand in hand and Rae drank the last of her water as she reached the top of the steps.

"Hi guys, what are you plans for the evening? Dad and I are going to go out to eat, you're welcome to join us if you like.

"No thanks Steve, I'm going to go over to Jesse's place tonight, we're going to spend the morning together, and then a couple of hours at … where was it Jess?"

"The Lake Shrine, it opens at 12.30. I promise I'll have her at work on time, 2.30 be OK?"

"Look Sir, before you go, I want to thank you for putting me up here, you know why I haven't had time to find somewhere else, but I promise I will, as soon as we crack this case, or by the end of next week, whichever comes first, I hope that'll be OK with you?"

"Of course. Don't worry. It's no problem having you here, Oh and Jess 2.30 will be fine, we were going to get in early, but I think that this afternoon has really helped, 3.00 would be OK if that'll give you two more time alone together!" Steve smiled at them, and Rae stuck her tongue out, then the two of them went into the house to change out of their sweaty gear.

Rae had just put her bathrobe on after her shower when there was a knock at the door. 

"It's Mark, are you decent?"

"No, but I try to be!  Come in Mark, it's fine."

Mark put his head round the door, smiled at Rae and came into the room. "How are you doing, did the run help you?"

"Yes it did thanks. I'm sorry; it's just that the way Steve does things takes a bit of getting used to. I guess I'm just used to working things out by myself. I had a reputation as a bit of a loner in London, I go off on my own and work things out in my mind. I don't think I've ever sat down with all the papers over the table, talking a case through with my friends. However much I may like them." She added with a smile.

"That's OK, I guess we do take a bit of getting used to. But we only do it to help, no other reason. Anyway Steve and I are off now. I understand that you are staying at Jesse's tonight, will you make sure the house is all locked up before you go?" Mark turned to leave, "Oh, Steve has put all the papers and the tape relating to the case in his apartment, he'll take them into the station with him tomorrow. Bye Rae, see you soon." And with that Mark was gone, Rae sat down on the bed with a smile. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't feel the least bit embarrassed that Mark knew she was going to spend the night with Jesse again, her own Dad, now that would have been different. 

She stood up, stretched her hands up over her head and then headed over to the wardrobe. "Well, there's not a lot to choose from in here, you need to do some washing girl." She bundled up the dirty t-shirts and jeans from the bottom of the cupboard and put them into her bag. Then she pulled the black trousers from her suit down and grabbed a lilac shirt off a hanger. This would have to do.

Jesse was sitting in the lounge hands behind his head thinking about what he had heard on the tape. He was sure that he was right; Hana had had a teacher who was jealous of her. He shook his head. _People like that shouldn't be teachers._ He heard Rae's door open and turned round. "Hi sweetheart, are you ready to go?"

Rae walked over so that she was standing behind the couch. She leant over and kissed him on the forehead. "That sounded nice, I think I like it when you call me that. Jesse would you mind if I brought my washing over and did it at your place? Otherwise I'll be wearing what I've got on all week?"

"No problem, I've a dryer as well, so you can be back in your jeans by morning. That is if you want to be!" He gave her a wink, and walked around to where she was standing and took the bag from her. "Come on lets go. We can pick up a take out on the way home and veg out in front of the TV this evening, what do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Are we a two car family again today?"

"No, Amanda brought me over, I was hoping I'd be going back with you!" he smiled at her and Rae felt her stomach shiver, she walked round in front of him, took the bag out of his hand, placed it on the floor and then she pulled him towards her and kissed him longingly on the lips.

"Children please!" a voice behind them made them both jump. 

"Steve Sloan, what is it with you and your Dad, that must be about the third or forth time one of you has frightened the life out of me. I thought you'd gone out."

"Good job I came back then, see what happens when I'm not around!" Steve had a wicked smile on his face and Rae and Jesse could tell that he was enjoying their mutual embarrassment. "I forgot my wallet, and it's my turn to pay. See you guys later," with that he turned and headed for his own apartment, and Jesse and Rae walked over to the front door.

"Steve, will you lock up then?" called Rae; glad not to have the responsibility.

"Yeah sure, enjoy yourselves. Bye." the voice floated up the stairs, and Rae and Jesse wandered out to her car content in each other's company and in the knowledge that their friend was happy for them.

Rae sat on the couch in Jesse's apartment; the coffee table in front of her had half a dozen little white boxes on it filled with different Chinese food. "These are great. We don't get our take away in these. It comes in metal foil trays with a white piece of cardboard on the top, which has a number on it. This is much better." She picked up her chopsticks and dipped them into one of the boxes. She had no idea what was in it, but she was game for anything. 

Jesse smiled indulgently from the chair where he was sitting. He had a bottle of Chinese beer in front of him and a bowl of soup in his hand. Rae had turned down the soup, saying that she wouldn't be able to eat anything else if she had it. He took a sip from his Chinese spoon and asked "So, what do you usually have then when you have – what did you call it take away?"

"Yes that's right, and I usually have something prawny. I'm a very unadventurous person when it comes to eating. Although I do like Mexican food, and that's quite brave for somebody who didn't eat Chinese until she was 17. This is all very nice though. You know when I was married my husband went to China on business and he said the food was completely different there. They had one menu for the natural Chinese and another for the tourists and some of the things he ate, uugh! Ducks feet, and tongues. Not much meat on them I wouldn't have thought." She let out a little giggle. "Thank you Jess, you know how to make me relax."

After they had finished their meal and cleared away all the little boxes, Rae went and put another load in the washing machine and hung her jeans over a chair ready for the morning. Then she put the chopsticks in the sink and went back over to Jesse. "I love Chinese food," he said, "No washing up. Come here for a cuddle." He put his arm out and Rae slid down on to the seat next to him. For a while they didn't say or do anything, they just enjoyed being next to each other, relaxed and happy in each other's company. Jesse listened to Rae breathing and slowly it evened out and grew deep, she was fast asleep. He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, lay her gently on the bed, he undid the top of her trousers and then pulled the cover up over her. 

He went back into the other room, lay on the couch and started to think over the case once more. The next thing he knew it was pitch black and he was as stiff as a board. He groaned, slowly turned his head and looked at his watch. 2.00 in the morning. He got up from his makeshift bed and quietly wandered into the other room. Rae was still fast asleep. He got undressed as he walked round the bed and slid quietly in beside her. It wasn't quite how he had seen the evening ending, but she really did need the sleep. He closed his eyes and drifted slowly back off himself.


	7. Sunday

**Suffer Little Children**

**Sunday**

Rae might have been fast asleep but it wasn't peaceful. She turned and groaned. Jesse who had been disturbed could hear her talking, agitatedly in her sleep. "_No, no, it **is** true, why won't anybody believe me, …leave her alone, please. NO, OH GOD NO!!"_ suddenly Rae sat straight up in bed, her breathing was erratic, her hair all over the place. Jesse was right there with her, but she didn't seem to be aware of him and he thought, correctly, that she was still asleep. _Jesse, talk to Jesse, he knows, please somebody help me!_ Suddenly she began to shake and Jesse knew he had to intervene. 

"Rae, Rae," his voice was quiet at first, but he got no response. He moved round in front of her on the bed and put his hands on her shoulders. "Rae, RAE!" Her eyes opened wide, but it was clear to Jesse that she had no idea where she was. "Rae, it's OK sweetheart, it's me Jess, you're safe here with me. I believe you. Shhh it's OK."  He could see the tears in Rae's eyes, but she knew where she was now, and she wouldn't let them fall.

"Come on Rae, you're going to make yourself ill if you don't let your feelings show! They're invading your dreams, you need to let them out."

"No!" Rae tried to break free from Jesse, tried to get away but he wouldn't let go. He didn't want to frighten her, or hurt her, but he couldn't let her go. "Jesse, I'm sorry, I can't, not yet, I have to be strong, I have to solve this case, then I can let it out." Her voice became a whisper. "If I let it all overwhelm me now I am afraid I won't be able to finish it, and I have to finish it."

Jesse gently guided her back onto her pillow. He lay beside her and she put her head on his shoulder. "I don't know if I understand, but I'm here, when you're ready I will still be here."

She looked over to him, the unshed tears still in her eyes. "Thank you Jesse, I need to know that." She shut her eyes. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to the land of her dreams, but she knew that she needed some more sleep, so it was a risk she had to take.

However, the presence of Jesse's arm around her seemed to keep her devils at bay. Before she knew it her alarm was going off and it was 7.00 in the morning. She sat up with a jolt. "Damn," 

"Rae, I don't think I've ever heard you swear before!" Jesse had been awake for about half an hour, enjoying Rae's presence in his arms and his life.

"That's not a swear word, I was only angry because I forgot to turn my alarm off."

"Uh, I hate to say this, but that **is** a swear word here."

Rae blushed. "I'm sorry, I try very hard not to use bad language, I don't like it so I don't do it. Sorry."

"Come here, I haven't had a good morning kiss yet, come to think of it, I didn't get a good night one either!"

Rae lay back down in Jesse's arms and began to kiss him. She felt his fingers running through her hair and the tingle in her spine, she shut her mind to everything except the now and felt her passion rise as Jesse began to kiss her back. She ran her hands down towards his hips and felt him grow hard next to her. "Jess," she whispered as his mouth left hers.

"Shhh. In case you hadn't noticed, you aren't dressed for the occasion. This time it was Jesse who was straddled over Rae, he undid the buttons on the blouse she had slept in and then moved off her. Rae raised her hips and felt her clothes slip from her body. She lifted her head and shoulders off the bed and slipped her blouse and bra off and onto the floor. 

Jess placed his lips on her neck and began to leave little kisses on her skin. "Oh Jess, oh yes," slowly Jesse moved down, he left a trail of kisses across her neck and down the middle of her body. Rae couldn't believe it as he ignored her breasts and carried on down towards her stomach. She moved to place her own hands on her nipples and was stunned when Jesse took each hand in his and placed them back down on the bed.

"Oh no you don't, not yet, they don't need any attention yet."

"Jess, please, they do, I need you to play with them now." Jesse looked at her with a smile and then he gently blew across each nipple. Rae's body lifted off the bed at the sensation, "More Jesse more now." She felt Jesse's finger on her lips, telling her to keep quiet. She sucked it into her mouth running her tongue round it. Then she lifted a hand off the bed took his hand out of her mouth and placed it down on the hairs between her legs, "I had better let you carry on then" she said, her voice husky with the passion she felt bubbling beneath the surface. "Otherwise, I might just have to leave you alone as well." She felt his fingers probe deep into the curls and then work their way down and into her. She squirmed and groaned, and Jesse worked his fingers in and out, in and out. Slowly the kisses began again, but this time Jess was at the top of her bikini line and he started to work back up her body. _If he misses them again… the thought was never finished. Suddenly she felt his mouth on one of her breasts and his fingers playing with the other. The sensation ripped through her, her moans got louder and more intense. "Jesse, let me play with you, before I come, roll over on your back."_

Jesse did as he was told and Rae moved down the bed. Then she leant over him and kissed him hard on the mouth, as she was doing so she began rubbing her body up and down on him and she felt him respond to her. Now it was his turn to groan and pull her towards him, "Oh Rae, that feels so good," she moved further up him and one of her breasts hung down above his mouth, he lifted his head and pulled the nipple gently with his teeth. She let him play with her for a minute then she pulled away. He went to protest but the words turned into a groan of satisfaction as he felt her warm mouth around his erection. Slowly she worked her way up and down as she had done before. He began to move with her, faster and faster. "Rae, oh Rae, don't stop, oooooh." 

As soon as he told her not to stop Rae did exactly that. She looked up at him, her eyes alight with passion. "I want you to take me Jesse, now, just like last time. She lay back on the bed and Jesse got into position. Once again their bodies worked together, "Now Jess, now, that is so good, oh yes, yes YES!" Jesse felt her body rise one last time and her muscles contract around him as he felt himself pour into her body. 

"OH, RAE" he fell forward on top of her, both of them completely spent. He felt her fingers run through his hair. Slowly he moved out of her and lay down beside her again. She reached over and began to kiss him, slowly, and passionately. Although he knew it could go nowhere for a while he couldn't help but respond and they kissed and ran their fingers through each other's hair while they slowly came back to earth.

It was almost 10.00 before Rae headed towards the shower. Jesse had fallen asleep at about 9.30 and she let him lay there totally at peace as she watched his chest rise and fall, and counted the freckles on his nose. 

As the water cascaded over her she wondered what the Lake Shrine would be like. Then she smiled, maybe the afternoon would be peaceful, but the morning had been anything but. She dried herself off and went off in search of her jeans. They were hanging neatly where she had left them the night before and after slipping them on she picked up the t-shirt she had planned to wear with them. The material was damp in her hands; she checked another shirt, that was the same. Shrugging her shoulders she went into the bedroom, found a pale blue top in Jesse's draw and pulled it on. As her head emerged from the neck she saw the tousle haired young man smiling at her from the bed. 

"Well hi there sweetheart." She said, "You know you look about 12 when you're asleep, and very cute."

Jesse stretched and got out of bed. "I'll have a quick shower, you want to put the water on and make a coffee? Then we can go out and face the world."

"OK, I need to get some more t shirts, things are open here on a Sunday right?"

"Yeah some things, I'm sure we can find you something. They have a shop at the Shrine, they'll have tops there I'm sure." With that Jesse disappeared into the bathroom. He smiled when he saw the mirror. Rae had written 'morning sleepyhead' in the steam. He drew a little smiley face next to it J and then got into the shower."

Rae made the coffee, took a tea bag out of her purse and poured herself a drink as well. Then she sat at the table and looked through the pamphlet on the Lake Shrine that she found there. The shrine had been there since 1950; they even had a portion of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes. It was described as an area of scenic beauty and serenity and a spiritual sanctuary. It sounded just what she was looking for. Jesse came into the kitchen picked up his coffee and saw what she was looking at. "So how does it sound?"

"Perfect Jess, just perfect. Thank you for arranging it."

"That's not all," said Jesse. He opened the refrigerator and took out a package covered with a small towel. As he removed the towel Rae could see that it was a picnic basket. Inside it there were small sandwiches, cans of soda, two bottles of water and a couple of cakes.

"Oh Jesse thank you." She paused as a thought hit her. "What would you have done if we'd stayed at Mark's last night and gone straight there?"

"Had it for my tea I guess." He laughed and put his hands round her shoulders. He looked over her head at the pamphlet. "I've lived here for a long time, but I've never been there. So it'll be a first for both of us."

After Rae had put all her dry clothes away and they'd tidied up the bedroom and the bathroom, they headed down to Rae's car and into the Sunday morning excitement of L.A. By the time they reached the Shrine at 12.40 the sun was hot and Rae knew that she would soon have to add hat to her shopping list. There were already about 10 cars in the parking lot as Tom purred to a halt in a space under a shady tree. Jesse picked up the picnic basket from the back seat and they set off in search of peace, quiet and a good lunch spot.

By 1.15 all the food was gone and Jesse and Rae were lying on the grass looking up at the sky. Suddenly Rae's phone started to ring. She took it out of her purse, stuck her tongue out at it and answered it. "Detective Yeager… Oh, hi Steve… No, that's OK, he'll understand."

Jesse's heart sank, he hoped that the afternoon wasn't over already, but by the look on Rae's face he had a feeling it was.

"Of course, yeah I'll just drop Jesse back at his place and then I'll be in. Bye" Rae turned to explain to Jesse what had just happened when her phone rang again.

"Detective Yeager… Mrs. Simpson, no that's fine, what can I do for you?" Rae listened and her face grew animated. "Look I'm on my way into the station right now. I'll pick it up on my way. See you soon, and don't worry, you've done the right thing."

Rae looked over to Jesse. "Sorry, I'm afraid the date's over. I have to go into the station early, apparently the Chief wants to see us in ¾ of an hour. And then the second call was Rachel Simpson's Mum. She's got Hana's diary! She says that she hasn't read it, but thought that we should have it."

"That's great, that should really help shouldn't it?"

Rae nodded. "Look, will you come with me when I pick up the diary? Then I'll drop you off back at your place on my way into the station."

"Yeah sure, no problem." They made their way back to the parking lot. Rae wanted to come back again, they hadn't really seen any of the grounds, and the pamphlet was right it was a beautifully serene section of a bustling mad city.

The calmness she felt stayed with her as she drove to Rachel Simpson's house, but her brain was already working again. She drew up to the kerb and got out of the car. Jesse looked like he was going to stay put. She smiled. "I know I'm not very good at this sharing lark, but I would like you to come with me, please"

Jesse got out of the car and kissed her lightly on the forehead, "You seemed to be sharing just fine to me this morning." Delighted to see that he had made her blush again, he laughed and they headed up the drive. 

"Oh, by the way, they have four dogs."

"Ah this is them is it? Yeah I remember you mentioned that yesterday." As he spoke Rae rang the bell and the sound of barks and yelps rose up before them. 

"Boys. Shush." There was silence. Mrs. Simpson opened the door. "Detective Yeager." She looked over to Jesse with a questioning look on her face.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, Mrs. Simpson, this is my boyfriend, Dr. Jesse Travis, I was off duty when you called."

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. Dr. you say, well I'm pleased to meet you." She held out her hand. "This has been a terrible time for Rachel, do you think I should take her to our own doctor?" She looked over at Jesse again.

"Yes Mrs. Simpson I do, if only because it's the sort of information he would want to know for the future. It certainly couldn't do any harm."

Mrs Simpson smiled and then turned back to Rae, "Sorry about that dear, but it's been on my mind and it seemed a good way to clear it up." She reached behind her onto the windowsill where she had left Steve's card. "This is the diary. I didn't know that Rachel had it, but she had a disturbed night last night" _she wasn't the only one Rae nodded. "This morning she told me about it. As I said I haven't read it. Rachel says she hasn't either, I don't know if that's true, she's so upset anyway that it would be hard to tell if something else was bothering her."_

"Thank you Mrs. Simpson, you've been a great help. I'll just give you a receipt for this." Rae reached into her bag and filled out the little form. Then she shook hands with Rachel's Mum and they returned to her car.

"Boyfriend eh?" said Jesse as they started back towards his apartment.

"That was alright wasn't it?" said Rae looking concerned.

"Oh yeah, I liked that." He ran his finger down her arm as she gripped the steering wheel.

"Steady Doctor that can be bad for your health."

"Why?"

"Because I may crash the car!"

Half an hour later, Rae was walking into the station house. Steve saw her and beckoned her across.  She put her bag with the diary in it behind her desk and they made their way to the Chief's office. "Do you know what he wants?" she asked quietly.

Steve shook his head. He tapped on the door and they saw the Chief motion them inside. 

"Ah, Detective Yeager, Lieutenant Sloan, thank you for coming in." he nodded at both of them and then continued. "I realise Detective that what I am going to say will probably mean very little to you, but the Lieutenant will be able to fill you in later. Detective Campbell has been working on a call girl murder for about 3 weeks. He's getting nowhere. Now his wife has gone into labour 6 weeks early and I've sent him off to the maternity wing at Community General, and I don't expect to see him for about a week."

"And you want us to take a look at his call girl case while he's away." Steve finished for his boss.

"That's what I thought. He knows I'm going to suggest it, and he would be grateful for the assistance. So I want you to go through all his files, and see if anything stands out. If not, I want you to interview all those involved again, and see what you can find. That is all, dismissed."

They rose out of their chairs and headed back to the squad room. Steve went over to Campbell's desk and started looking through his filing cabinet. Rae went and got Steve a coffee and water for herself. She got a clean pad out of the desk for each of them and then watched in horror as Steve came back across the room and dropped a pile of files onto her desk. There must have been about 20 of them. "Oh great, and they say Sunday is a day of rest!"

"I think the best way to handle this," said Steve as he took a mouthful of coffee, "Thanks for this by the way, is for you to read through the evidence folders first and I will read the interviews and then we can swap over. What do you think?"

"Sounds OK to me. Let's sort them out." Rae picked up a note from her desk, "Oh by the way, before we start. Carlos Moya has got the chicken pox so we can't go interview him today. Still it gives us **so much **more time to do all this!" 

Slowly the files were sorted out into two reasonably similar size piles. Rae pulled the evidence ones towards her and Steve moved his over onto his own desk.  It was never easy to take over somebody else's case, even when they were willing. For starters everything you had was second hand. Rae had done this before in London and always wished she had a crystal ball, not to see the future, although that would be a big help, but the past. Also, everybody's note taking was different; it took a while to get used to somebody else's style, especially when they talked American, even if it was supposed to be the same language she spoke, it wasn't!

It was past six o'clock when Rae was ready to swap piles with Steve. She had made copious notes. Her partner before Dave used to say about her 'Why use one word when 15 will do!' And he was right. Sometimes her notes were longer that the information they related to!

As Rae started to read the interview notes she realised that she was much more relaxed about this case. Partly because it wasn't really her case, but mainly she thought, because it was about adults there were no children involved in this at all. _I wonder if that's why The Chief gave it to us? The thought was gone in an instant but she had a feeling she was right._

At 9.00 o'clock Rae got up stretched her aching back and looked over at Steve. They had been doing this for six hours and they hadn't said more than a dozen words each. "So, what do you think partner?"

"I think I'm going to call it a day. I'm going to take my notes home with me and go over them tonight, then we can re-group in the morning and arrange to see some of these people."

"Sounds good to me. I'm going to head over to Jesse's for a while, but I'll be home tonight. I've got my key."

Rae picked up her purse and headed out the door. Steve smiled over at her. He hoped they weren't going too fast, her and Jesse; he didn't want to see either of them get hurt. Rae was here for 12 months, and not all of her cases would be as emotive as the one they were working now. _Take it slow, he's worth it. He shook his head and headed back to his desk._

Rae rang Jesse's doorbell and waited for him to answer. He peeped through the hole in his door, and smiling warmly opened it. "Hey, how's it going? I didn't think I would see you again today," he held the door open and she walked inside.

"Is it OK? I just wanted to see you again before I headed back to Mark's."

"Of course, how did you get on with the diary, did it contain what you hoped it would?"

Rae put her hand on her forehead. "The diary, you know I have been so busy this afternoon, the Chief gave us a case from another detective, and I've been reading files the whole time, I didn't get to open the diary. Steve doesn't even know I have got it." She paused. "Jess, could I read it here? I don't think I want to read this on my own."

He nodded and put his arm around her. "I'm pleased that you want to, come on, cup of tea and pleasant company, maybe it won't be so bad after all."

Hana's diary was set out like Rae's own. There were no dates; it had a pink checked cover with a teddy bear on it. There were two hooks for a padlock to go through on the side, but Rae had removed that already. "You know, I think I should ring Steve before we do this." Jesse nodded his head and Rae picked up her cell phone and rang the station. "Lieutenant Sloan please, this is Detective Yeager… Oh thank you … No it's OK I'll try him at home."

"Already left?" Jesse looked over at Rae.

"Yeah, I'll try the Beach House next. "Mark, hi it's Rae, is Steve there? … No don't worry I'll be home later, if he comes back in the next hour or so will you tell him I'm at Jesse's and I need him to contact me … thanks, bye. I'll just try his cell and then we'll get down to it. Rae dialled the third number and waited Steve … Sir … can you hear me? … Never Mind." She rang off. "His battery must be low, or he's in a bad area, I couldn't hear him and he couldn't hear me."

"Never mind, you tried and you can discuss it with him later."

Rae opened the diary and started to read out loud.

_This is the first entry in my new diary. No dates so I guess I dont have to do it every night. Rachel says we will keep one each and then look at them on our birthdays. _

_I forgot I had this, whoops. Mrs Jenkins told us today she is finishing school next week she is gonna have a baby. I will miss her we get on great I am going to draw a picture for her to put in the babys room._

_Our new teacher came today Ms Howard. I wish Mrs Jenkins would have her baby real quick and come back. Ms Howard told me I should leave my little pictures and do more writing. I hope Mrs Jenkins comes back like Miss Perkins did after she had her baby. I cant believe that she is going to be our homeroom teacher._

_We did commas at school today, so I am going to try to put them in my writing now, Mrs Langley said we will get credits if we use them right._

_Ms Howard shouted at me in class today, in front of everybody. I didnt cry but I wanted to. She said it wasnt clever to draw good, writing was what counted. I told her I put commas in everything and she said I was rude and cheeky. I got sent to Mr Johnson!!!!_

_I dont know what to do. Ms Howard hit me today. Really hard on my back. I cant tell anyone she is a teacher shell say Im lying. Rachel knows and Crystal cos they saw her do it. Everyone else had gone to play._

Rae paused and looked over at Jesse. "I wish we had dates for this. But she only started this semester so it must be quite recent."

_I am writing this with my left hand I hope I can read it later I had to go to hospital yesterday ms howard bent my arm up my back so much I heard it crack the doctor at the hospital said it was broken twice his name was jesse and he was really nice I cried it hurt so much no one knows what happened I blamed it on the boys who hurt paperboys she pinched me too I have marks._

Rae looked up. There were tears in her eyes. Jesse put his hand on her arm. "Come on Rae, d'you want me to read for a bit?" She nodded and Jesse took over.

_I am getting quite good at writing with my left hand. I can even remember the commas now my arm doesnt hurt so much. All my teachers are letting me tell them the answers in the tests we are having except Ms Howard. I have to write with this hand. I bet she gives me bad marks for writing. I HATE HER she said if I tell anyone I will get a bad report card, I dont want to so I shant say anything_

Jesse shook his head, but he didn't say anything. He took a breath and carried on.

_I went to Sally's sleepover and didn't get back till lunchtime today. It was great. We went bowling but I couldnt do it so everybody bowled one go for me and I won then we watched videos and played truth and dare. Crystal said she had kissed Simon yuk fancy kissing a boy!!! Rachel wouldnt play so she had to have chewing gun on her nose, ha ha she said it smelt. I said that I liked Angel but Sally said that didnt count cos they all new that. So I said I hated Ms Howard._

_Six more days and then I can get my plaster off. I get to see Jesse again, I like him to like Angel. There are cheerleading tryouts next week. I really want to be a cheerleader. _

Jesse stopped reading and smiled. "You know I'm glad that I know that I put her at ease." Rae touched his hand and he continued.

_I told Ms Howard that I am having my plaster off and wont be in on tuesday.  She said I would have to make up the work and not to think that I would get pictures on the wall just cos I could draw again and she said if I was bad she would do it again or worse its not fair even with this hand my pictures are better than Terrys and hes had loads up. Rachel and me think she loves him I know she hates me I think I am scared of her I know she followed me the other day after school._

_I am shaking while I write this cos Ms Howard followed me again today after school. She said I should be careful cos bad things happen to girls like me. She grabbed me by the sholders hard and shook my bad arm. I dont now why she hates me I have marks on me now I am going to give this to Rachel tomorrow I cant write it anymore but I promised we would read them on our birthday so I will._

Jesse put the book down. They had the proof they needed to prosecute Ms Howard for the first assault on Hana at least. He looked up at Rae and saw that she was shaking, really shaking, from head to foot. "Rae, Rae, look at me."

She wrapped her arms around herself where she sat hunched on the chair and began to rock back and forth. He could see that she was trying to keep her feelings inside. He hoped that this time she would loose the battle. He was very worried about her. Suddenly like a dam had burst tears poured down her face. "Oh God Jesse, that poor child," she couldn't say any more, the sobs wracked her body and she wouldn't let Jesse near her to comfort her. Then quickly she got up and rushed from the room, Jesse followed her and saw her race into the bathroom and heard her retching and then being sick. He got his doctor's bag and then waited quietly outside the room, but when there had been no sound for a while he looked around the door. Rae was crouched down as if she had slid down the wall. She wasn't moving or making any sound but the tears had begun again. She was very pale and Jesse knelt by her side to feel her pulse. 

"Rae, Rae, can you hear me?" She nodded her head but still she didn't look at him. "I want you to get up so that I can put you on the bed OK?" She tried to lift herself up, but couldn't, so she just hung her head and continued to cry. 

"Rae come on, you can do this, let me get you in the other room so that I can check you over. Come On Rae Now!" Jesse made his voice sound far sterner than he felt and Rae gave him her hand and he helped her to her feet. He put his arm around her and guided her to the bed. 

She sat down heavily and when he knelt in front of her she let him take her pulse and blood pressure without a murmur. Then he took her shoes off, undid and removed her jeans and lay her down on the bed. As he had done the night before he pulled the cover up over her and then he lay down beside her. She put her arms around him and the tears started again. It was a long time before Jesse felt her body start to relax, and even then it was a slow process, she had so many feelings pent up inside her that he knew that she was suffering and that only by letting it all out would she feel any better, that and solving the case. 

"Oh Jess, help me, I can't stop the bad feelings. Please … help me."

"Shhh it's OK. You have to let them out, I told you that. It's just that you have kept them in all week. You knew this would happen, now you just have to let yourself go, let the feelings out, then you'll be able to carry on and finish this case."

"I have to Jesse, I owe it to that little girl and her family, and the boy Terry. Why did he die Jess, I can't understand that bit. She liked him, Rachel and Hana joked that she loved him, I can't see that bit of it at all."

Rae went to get off the bed, but as she stood up the room started to swim round. She swayed and put her hand to her head and Jesse was there in an instant. "Rae, come on, you're human just like the rest of us. Now lie down, Doctor's orders. I don't want you to get out of that bed again until the morning is that clear? I'll ring Mark and tell him you won't be home tonight. Try and sleep, I promise you'll feel better for it.

"Jesse please, don't leave me until I'm asleep." She tried a little smile and Jess pulled her to him and they lay together. He stroked her hair and slowly rubbed his foot up and down her leg. The gentle movements seemed to sooth her and he could feel her body relax slightly. Gradually her breathing grew slow and deep and he knew that she was asleep. He waited another five minutes and then he gently got up off the bed and tiptoed out of the room.

"Steve, hi it's Jesse."

"Hey Jess, don't tell me she's staying the night again!"

Yeah she is Steve, but not for the reason you think! That storm she talked about broke tonight. She had bad dreams this morning, but this evening it was worse. She's fast asleep in my bed at the moment, I've told her she isn't to get up until tomorrow. What time are you starting?"

"Early Jess, I have to go and interview a couple of call girls in the morning about a murder that took place nearly a month ago, so she can leave it until about eleven if she wants."

"Hey pal, need a hand?"

"Oh funny man. I think my partner needs you more than I do right now. Jess, if you think she should stay at your place tomorrow, try and make her do it OK? This is a hell of a case to have as your first one. To tell the truth I'm worried about her.

"Hey, you and me both buddy, but I think she'll be OK now that she has finally let her feelings out. She feels she owes it to the little girl to find her killer and I have to agree with her."

"Well look after her Jess, I'll see you soon. G'night."

"Yeah I will. See you Steve."

As he put the phone down Jesse realised that he hadn't told Steve about the diary. He picked up the phone to dial again and then he heard her.

"_No, no, it **is** true, why won't anybody believe me, …leave her alone, please. NO, OH GOD NO!!"_  He raced into the room just in time to hear her call for him. "_Jesse, help me please Jess. JESSE."_

"Rae, honey, I'm here, come on wake up. Please Rae, wake up." 

"Oh, Jess, hold me, I need you here." She was shaking again. The storm that Jesse had thought had passed seemed to be ongoing. She took a deep breath, as if she was building herself up, Jesse thought, to say the next few words and when he heard them he knew he was right, they had finally got to the heart of the matter. "When I dream Jess, I don't see Hana, I see Mara, I have to save my little girl and no one believes me." She put her head into the pillow and he could see her shoulders heaving. 

Suddenly the dreams became clear. He thought he'd understood before, but he hadn't, none of them had. The child abuse case had become personal the moment she'd seen the body in the morgue. She wasn't only helping to solve this child's murder; she was trying to assuage her guilt for leaving her daughter behind and coming to a strange country. 

"Rae look at me." Rae shook her head, so Jesse continued anyway, hoping that she would feel able to reach out to him before long. "Do you think that your daughter is in any danger staying with her father?"

"No of course not!" Rae turned to him, her eyes still wet with tears, but blazing. "What sort of mother do you think I am, that I could leave my daughter, or my sons for that matter, in a place of danger! How Dare You Jesse Travis, How Dare You!"

"Rae, honey, calm down, I didn't say that. Tell me what you think. Tell me why you see your daughter when you think about Hana."  There was a long pause, and Jesse wondered if he'd pushed her too far.

The words came slowly, as if she had to force them out, "Because I left her… I came away… for a year and left her… the boys can manage without me, they're both independent, one's 18 the other is 16 but she's 9 years old. I felt so guilty about it… and then on my very first day I see a child the same age, who looks like her, lying… dead. And this time I can't separate my work from my home life, but I **have** separated myself from my home life, I'm 6,000 miles from it. You can't get much more separated than that!"

"Listen to me Rae," but she turned her head away. "Don't shut me out Rae, you told me you needed me, let me help you." Slowly she nodded and to Jesse's profound relief she moved a little closer to him. "This job, here in L.A. it's a real good thing to have on your record right? To be asked to do it I mean? Again Rae nodded her head and he carried on. "If you had the chance again to come, knowing what the first case would be, knowing everything that it would mean for your career, knowing that you would leave your family behind with their Dad. Would you do it?"

Rae took a deep breath. "Yes Jesse I would. But to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Maybe I would deal with it better."

"I think you're doing just fine. You haven't made any mistakes have you? No. You haven't lost it on duty have you? No. See you're doing just fine."

This time Rae smiled. "Thank you Jesse. You really have helped me to put it into a bit better perspective. I … I thank you Jess. She leant forward and kissed him, then she snuggled down under the covers. I think I will go to sleep now if you don't mind me staying again."

"Before you do, give me your right arm." Rae did as she was told. Jesse removed her watch and turned the alarm off. Then he put it on the nightstand. "Now you can go to sleep. I spoke to Steve and he says he'll see you about eleven if you're up to it." Rae looked at Jesse, her face full of concern, he put up his hand "Don't worry I didn't say much, just that the storm had broken, it's up to you how much you tell him, but remember he's your partner and you need to trust each other."

"I know that Jesse, you can stop being my mother now, and become my lover again. I'm in real need of a goodnight kiss."

"And that's all you will get tonight. Come here." He put his arms out for her and she leant in towards him. They kissed each other, softly and gently, then she lay back down on the pillow and dropped slowly off to sleep once more.

Jesse went back into the front room. Almost four hours had passed since Rae had arrived with the diary. He should be tired, but he couldn't put all the things that had happened tonight out of his mind. He didn't know if they should have seen the connection between Hana and Mara but he was annoyed that he hadn't done so. He couldn't believe that a woman like Leticia Howard could be put in charge of a room full of children and he was worried about Rae. _I love her he thought simply as he sat there. He felt a yawn move up his throat and got up. He turned all the lights out and returned to the bedroom. Rae was fast asleep now, but she was corner to corner across the bed. He smiled. Grabbed a blanket from the cupboard and went back towards the sofa._


	8. 2nd Monday

Suffer Little Children

**The 2nd Monday**

It was 9.00 before either of them stirred. Rae opened her eyes and just lay in bed. She felt exhausted. Slowly her memories of the night before surfaced. She rubbed her hands over her eyes and looked around. Where was Jesse? "Jesse, Jesse, where are you?" There was an edge of panic in her voice. She got out of bed and walked quickly towards the living room. "Oh Jess," her voice softened as soon as she saw him, one arm and one leg hanging off the sofa, his hair all mussed up and the blanket in a heap on the floor. She walked round so that she was facing him and then she knelt down and gave him a slow kiss on the lips. 

"Rae? Is that you?" he said sleepily.

"Well who else did you think it would be Romeo?"

"What? Oh Rae," Jesse sat up on his makeshift bed. He had crease marks down his arm where the material from the sofa had been scrunched up against him during the night. He looked half awake and half asleep _and very cute._

"Jesse, thank you for being there for me last night. I honestly do feel better this morning."

"Rae where else would I be?" He paused. "I love you Rae." He looked at her, but she turned her head. _Oh no, what have I done, please don't let her walk away. She turned back towards him. He could see that her eyes were shining. She leant down and kissed him, slowly and gently once more._

"Thank you Jess, in time I think I'll love you too, I hope I don't disappoint you by not being able to say it yet."

"No, no you don't. I was worried I might chase you away by saying it so soon."

"No that won't happen, I like you Jesse, I like you a lot."

She walked back into the bedroom, and he heard the shower start up. He got up and stretched. Then he went and put the coffee on while he waited for the bathroom.

Rae grabbed a piece of toast while Jesse showered and went back over to where the diary was sitting on the table. She picked it up and read the early entries again. She shook her head. The poor child. How betrayed she must have felt. She wondered if Mara would have felt able to share her feelings with either her or her Dad. She hoped so, but she realised she didn't really know. But she also realised that for the first time she could think about her daughter more rationally." _Thank goodness for that she thought._

Jesse came into the room as she finished her breakfast. "Hey beautiful, how's it going?" He could see what she was reading, and hoped that she would be all right.

Rae got up of the chair and walked over to him. She came round behind him and put her arms around him. "Thank you again Jesse for all that you said and did last night. I know Steve said he didn't need me until about eleven but I'll go in now if you don't mind."

"No sure, I'm working later this morning anyway. Will I see you tonight?"

"I hope so." With that she picked up her bag and the diary, kissed him and went down to her car.

Jesse picked up the other piece of toast and munching on it he went into the bedroom. He made the bed, put the blanket back in the cupboard and cleaned the shower room. He checked his watch and realised that he had a couple of hours before he needed to leave so he cleaned up the rest of the apartment and even threw out the furry, unidentifiable thing from the back of the refrigerator. 

He went back into the bedroom to change into a shirt and tie and as he did so he saw Rae's watch on the nightstand where he'd put it. He picked it up and went back into the other room. Picking up the phone he put a call through to the station, so that he could let her know where it was, but her line was busy, he decided that he'd leave it a couple of minutes and try again.

"Lieutenant Sloan," Steve picked up Rae's phone, he was having a bad morning, and neither of his witnesses had shown up for their interviews.  "Mrs Simpson, no she isn't here at the moment, what seems to be the problem?" Steve sat down heavily at Rae's desk as he listened to the distraught woman on the other end of the phone, and felt his anger rise. 

Rae drove her car towards St Mary's Elementary School. The diary was open beside her. She'd been on her way to the precinct when she'd got caught in traffic. As she sat there she'd carried on reading the diary once again. Getting more and more angry by the second she'd turned off the freeway at her earliest opportunity and now she was heading towards a showdown with Ms Howard. She knew she should call the station, and she had tried, just the once, but she'd got a busy line. 

She drew up in the parking lot and picking up the diary and her bag she made her way into the school. Miss Brown was busy in the office, but looked up and smiled when she saw her. "Good morning Detective Yeager, what can I do for you?" 

"Is the Principal free at the moment?"

"No I'm sorry, he's with the children, and he has a member of the school board with him."

"OK, what about Ms Howard?"

"Yes, she's free, the children are having a special ceremony in the yard today to remember Hana and Terry. Ms Howard declined to join in so she's in her lab. 

"Thank you." Rae said no more, but walked down the corridor and stopped outside the last room on the floor. She knocked, but did not wait for an answer.

Ms Howard was sitting at her desk. Her white coat was lying over the back of her chair. "Why Detective, and how are you today? No Lieutenant Sloan with you?"

"No, Ms Howard, I'm here on my own this time. I need to speak to you about this." Rae held up the diary.

"And just what might that be?"

"It's the book that is going to get you locked up for life Ms Howard. It's the proof that you murdered Hana Marlow and because of that it's the proof that you also killed Terry Tennant. Although, I must admit, I have no idea why you would have done that."

"Oh and I suppose you know why I murdered Hana then?"

"Oh yes. You were jealous of her, she was a nine year old child and you were jealous of her and her artistic abilities!"

"Mrs Jenkins was the biology teacher here before me. She told me that if I wanted any drawings for the walls that Hana was the girl to ask. But the girl was so smug; she came up to me on the first morning and told me that she did the pictures for this classroom. Oh she had talent, I don't deny that. I'd done a drawing to put up of a dragonfly, that one you can see on the window. You thought a child had done it didn't you? Well it wasn't, I did it! A nine-year-old child could draw better than me. I wasn't going to let that happen!" She had begun to raise her voice and Rae took a step backwards.

"What about Terry, everybody I've spoken to said that you liked Terry, even loved him some said." 

"That was a mistake," her voice softened, "I did like him very much. He wasn't clever, no threat to anyone, but he tried, and that mattered.

"Why did you kill them?" Rae held her breath, she had no idea if this evil woman would actually admit what she had done, but somehow from the gloating look on her face she thought she might.

"Hana came in boasting about how her cast was coming off and that she was going to be trying out for cheerleading. She said that her Dad had bought a pom pom for her and it was in the trunk of their car. I told her not to brag, that bad things happened to girls like that. I followed her home and warned her off, but I knew it wasn't enough. So I followed her to school, she didn't see me. She stopped by a blue dumpster to tie her shoelace. I put my scarf around her neck and pulled and pulled."

"And Terry?" Rae's voice was almost nonexistent.

"He wasn't supposed to die."

"You said that before, what do you mean, he wasn't supposed to die, if you strangle someone don't they usually die?"

"He saw me kill Hana, he came in on the Wednesday morning and he told me he'd seen me put my scarf around Hana's neck. He said he was going to tell her Mum. I said that it was up to him, but I knew I couldn't let him go, so I followed him home at lunch time and I did the same thing again." She began walking towards Rae. "Just like I can't let you go either." 

Suddenly Rae realised that she should have waited for Steve, she was alone and very very afraid. "No, oh God no!" Rae's voice was tight, she could feel the panic rising in her chest.

Steve got off the phone from Mrs. Simpson at last. He was worried and angry. He picked up the phone again and rang Jesse.

"Rae?"

"No, it's me Jess, isn't Rae still with you?"

"She left a while ago, she should be with you by now." Jesse was suddenly very worried.

"I've just spoken to Mrs. Simpson about the dairy she gave to Rae yesterday, apparently Rachel **had** read the diary and she told her mother all about it. I've just heard everything that was in it. Rae should have told me, not that girl's mother! I didn't even know she had the diary, and now I don't know where she is either!" Jesse could hear the anger in Steve's voice.

"Steve, I think I do." Jesse's voice was tight, and he could feel his heart beating out of his chest.

Rae backed away from the desperate woman in front of her. She was trying to get around towards the door, or to her bag, where she had her gun._ I must get a shoulder holster.  Leticia Howard reached the door first and took her scarf down off the hook and turned the key. "Well now, Miss Clever Detective from England, you don't look quite so sure of yourself do you? Where's your handsome partner when you need him? Out investigating a real crime?"_

Rae backed away from her, but she didn't see a chair, which had been left out from under a desk, and she fell backwards over it. She hit her head on the ground and was momentarily stunned. That was exactly what Leticia Howard needed; she lunged at Rae and wound the pale blue scarf tightly around her neck. 

Rae tried to get her hands under the soft silky material, but she couldn't. She could feel the pressure building up in her head, could feel her eyes straining in their sockets and her ears ready to burst. The world around her started to go black. She used all her strength to utter her final words. "Jesse, help me … Jess, I do love…" and then she fell silently to the floor.

Steve screeched into the parking lot of St Mary's Elementary School. He rushed in and up to the office. "Detective Yeager, where is she?" 

"Down the hall Lieutenant. You can't take that gun…" but Steve had gone. Jesse came rushing in behind him, his doctor's bag in his hand and they raced down the corridor both praying that they weren't too late. Steve tried to open the door, but it was locked. He backed away and raising his foot kicked his way into the room. As he and Jesse entered they heard Rae's voice, faint and getting fainter…

"Jess, I do love…."

"Hold it Ms Howard. You're under arrest for the murder of Hana Marlow and Terry Tennant." He glanced at his partner on the floor, "And the attempted murder of Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager." He had his gun pointed at her and she slowly straightened. She went to pick up a chair and Steve fired. Blood instantly stained her chest and she fell to the ground. Steve was over her immediately gun still drawn. He felt for a pulse and as he turned he could see that Jesse was tending to Rae, he knelt down and looked at the scarf still round her neck. 

"I need to take that off Steve,"

"Yeah, I know, go ahead."  He opened his phone and put in a call for two ambulances and some backup. Then he headed back down the corridor to get the secretary to keep all of the children out of the school and to phone parents to come and collect them. 

"Steve, give me a hand, she's not breathing!" Jesse called after him down the hallway. 

Steve looked round, not knowing what to do first. He turned to Jesse, at the same time shouting, "Miss Brown follow me, it's urgent." The secretary raced out of her office as Steve knelt by his partner. 

"I have to keep her alive until the paramedics can take over." He had tears streaming down his face. "I can't let her die, I've just found her, come on Rae, breathe, breathe." He had started CPR but he knew it was no use; no air was capable of getting through. "I'm going to have to do a Cricothyroidotomy, Steve."

"A what?" but Steve thought he knew already. "You need to get into her airways right?"

Jesse nodded. "My bag is there, I'll do it, and you assist OK?"

Steve picked up the bag, "What do you need me to do?"

"Get me a scalpel and the ET tube that's in there and a tracheal hook I'll need that too."

As Steve handed Jesse the scalpel that he knew he would need first Miss Brown looked over and said, "What do you want from me Lieutenant?"

"To keep the children in the yard and get on to their parents and carers, the school will have to be closed for a while." She left the room grateful for something to occupy herself with and Steve turned back to Jesse. He saw that he was making the incision into Rae's throat talking to himself as he did so.

"Right, incision into the Cricothyroid membrane," Steve was surprised at how little blood there was; he hoped it wasn't a bad sign. ""I need that hook now Steve." He handed it over to his friend and watched again as Jesse gently opened up the incision to make an oval shaped hole. "Tube!" Steve had it ready and Jesse pushed it into the hole and down into the trachea. They watched as Rae started to take in air and Jesse wiped his hands across his face to get rid of the tears. "Thank God." Steve let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding and put his hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Are you alright? You did a brave thing there buddy. You saved her!" Jesse nodded; his face was as white as a sheet.

 At last, after what seemed like an eternity, the paramedics arrived and took over. They made sure that Rae's spine was stabilized and they assessed Jesse's surgical procedure.

Jesse turned to the EMT in charge and said, "I had to perform a Cricothyroidotomy, her airways were acutely obstructed. I had no choice." He shuddered at the thought.

"Are you alright Doctor?" 

"Yeah, or I will be when I know she's OK." He looked up at the medic. "She's my girlfriend."

A second team put the still unconscious Ms Howard onto a stretcher and wheeled her away. Jesse went down the corridor with Rae and told Steve that he would travel back with her and see him at Community General later. 

As Steve walked back into the biology lab he saw the diary and Rae's purse on the floor of the classroom. He picked them up and headed back towards the school entrance. As he got there the door opened. "Has the shooting finished Lieutenant? We thought it better if we stayed out there." Mr Johnson was looking extremely upset.

Mr. Downes came in behind the Principal and shook hands with Steve. "Lieutenant, it's nice to see you again I wish it were under more congenial circumstances. Do I take it that this unpleasant affair is now ended?"

"For the time being Mr. Downes, although for some I don't think it'll ever end."

Steve moved towards the main doors, he could see three black and whites drawing into the parking lot. He could also see Rae's red tomato, sitting there waiting for it's owner to come and reclaim it. _Please God let that happen. He walked out and saw Martin Robertson get out of one of the cars. He went over and began to let him know what had happened. "I need two officers to go to Community General and stay with Leticia Howard. The rest of you can stay here. Oh and Martin would you take Rae's car back to the station?" he handed him the keys he had taken out of Rae's purse._

"Yeah sure Lieutenant, which one is it?

"The red one Martin!"

"Oh great, tell her she owes me one!"

The ambulances drew up at Community General. The two stretchers were rushed into the E.R. Jesse had radioed ahead and Alex, Mark and Amanda were waiting when they came in. Alex directed Ms Howard into Trauma One where there was already another Doctor waiting to take over. As he came back out he saw Jesse walk over to Mark and he heard him start to explain what he'd done. Alex wheeled Rae into Trauma Two and after Mark had joined them Amanda took Jesse's hand and as they walked towards the Doctor's Lounge they could hear Mark behind them.

"Dr. Martin check for sub conjunctivial and skin petechial cephalad. Then I want soft tissue x-rays of the neck. Chest x-rays, as long as the airway remains secure. I'll need CT scans of the head and neck to check for laryngeal cartilage injuries."

They heard Alex's voice cut across, "Wait! We're loosing her Dr. Sloan! Get me a crash cart in here STAT!" 

The reality of the situation and the fact that he might not have done enough hit Jesse hard and Amanda had to steer him into the Doctor's Lounge and over to the couch where he sat down heavily and put his finger's through his hair.

"Jesse, you know that she's in the best possible hands. And rest assured Ms Howard will soon be quite well enough to stand trial so that the world can know what an evil woman she is."

Jesse just nodded. He knew that, but at the moment nothing mattered except Rae. "I heard her Amanda, as we rushed into the room, just as she was sinking to the floor, I heard her say, Jess I do love …" 

Amanda smiled at him. "You know I think that there was a part of her that loved you the first time she lay eyes on you, in my morgue I will remind you! Do you want me to go back and see what's happening?"

Jesse nodded at his friend and Amanda walked back down the corridor. Jesse moved over to the door and watched her disappear into the E.R. She looked in through the window of the trauma room and a nurse saw her. She smiled and came over to the door. "We got her back Dr. Bentley, she's stabilising now. Dr. Sloan is going to take her down for her x-rays and scans in about five minutes." 

Amanda smiled "Thank you, please tell Mark that I'll let Dr. Travis know." She turned and walked back the way she'd come, she could see Jesse waiting in the doorway. She smiled at him and he sagged back against the doorframe. She ran to him a concerned look on her face. "Jesse, it's alright, she's going to be fine. They're stabilizing her right now and then the tests will continue."

Amanda walked over to the coffee machine and poured him a black coffee. She knew they would have to wait for a while, but she would be there for as long as it took.

After a while Steve came in. "Any news guys?" 

"Rae crashed just after she came in, but your Dad got her back. She's in x-ray at the moment."

Steve shook his head, and looked at Jesse. "I checked on Ms Howard on my way in. She's on her way to OR right now to have the bullet removed." He paused. "How are you Jess, is there anything I can do?"

"Just tell me you've got enough proof to put that woman away for life!" Jesse practically spat the words out, he understood it, but still Steve was surprised at the venom in his voice.

"I put a call through to the Education Department before I spoke to Mrs. Simpson this morning. They just replied. There have been three other unexplained deaths at schools where Ms Howard worked, either as a substitute teacher, or a maternity replacement."

Amanda shuddered. The three friends sat in silence after that, waiting for Mark to come and put their lives back on an even keel. Although she had only been with them for a week Rae had become a partner, a friend and a lover. All their lives were intertwined with hers, and would be for a long time to come they hoped.

After what seemed like forever to Jesse, but in reality was about 2 hours Mark came back into the room. "Mark how is she?" Jesse leapt to his feet.

"You saved her life Jesse, she isn't breathing on her own yet, but hopefully the mask can be removed quite quickly. Her throat and vocal chords, trachea and larynx are all tender and bruised. I don't want her to put any strain on them. She's in the ICU so that we can keep a close eye on her. But she'll be all right Jess, she really will. I'll have her moved in the morning and I've arranged for Dr Williams the ENT specialist to see her tomorrow and Dr Dobson,"

"He's the trauma guy right?" asked Jesse.  Mark nodded in agreement. "Can I go and sit with her Mark?"

"Of course, I told the nurse to expect you, and I got Dr. Collins to cover for you for the next few days."

"Thanks Mark. Thank you for saving her for me."

"You're welcome, I only finished what you started. Go on, off you go."

Steve heaved a sigh of relief "Is she really going to be alright Dad?"

"Yes son she is, you can't lie to a doctor, it just doesn't work. But it'll be a while before she's back to her old self, quite a while I think. If Jesse hadn't been there with you, well it would have been a different story altogether."

Jesse managed to control himself and not race into the ICU. He saw the nurse on duty at the desk and she directed him to room 101. Rae lay there, a mask over her face, her eyes shut. _She's beautiful, thank you God for saving her for me. Jesse uttered his small prayer as he sat down beside her._

Jesse sat and stroked her hand, he was lucky she was still alive, he knew he was. _I should have realised that she would go after Leticia Howard on her own, I knew how personal this case was, I could have prevented this! He felt so guilty as he looked over at her and he rubbed away at the unshed tears in his eyes. Suddenly he realised that he wasn't alone and looked round to see Steve standing behind him. _

"I didn't want to intrude Jess, but I have to get back to the station, and I guess I just needed to see her too."

"I should have realised Steve, realised what she was going to do. I didn't have a chance to tell you, but this was personal to her, right from the start. When she had her dreams, her bad dreams, she didn't see Hana, she saw her own daughter, Mara."

Steve looked over at his partner. "I never knew." He said softly. "But you aren't at fault Jesse, she told you she was coming in to me, remember? And it was you who realised where she was actually going.  I know how you feel about her Jess, but you don't know her, not that well, not yet."

Jesse nodded, he did know that. Steve was right, but it didn't make him feel any better.

"Jess." The voice was very muffled and faint. He whirled round and saw that Rae was trying to remove the mask.

"No, honey, Rae don't, it's OK, leave it on, it's helping you." 

"Where am I?  Call Steve," her voice croaked.

"Shhh don't speak Detective, that's an order!" he smiled at her, his relief was palpable. Jesse I'll go and get Dad."

The young doctor nodded, but he didn't take his eyes off Rae, she was back with him, he **had** saved her after all.

He was still just sitting there with her when Mark came into the room. Rae had drifted back off, and Jesse doubted that she would remember seeing him when she awoke the next time.

"Jesse? Steve said she came round briefly, how was she?"

"Really groggy, and her voice was real croaky, if it was anybody else I would know that this is how it should be, but it's so hard when it's someone you love. How do you keep doing it with Steve, Mark? I don't think I quite understood before." He looked over at his friend with a new respect in his eyes.

"You keep doing it, **because** you love them and you know they love their job. If you and Rae stay together you may have to do this again you know."

Suddenly there was a loud crash in the hallway outside; Mark darted outside to see that a food trolley had been knocked over by a very sheepish looking orderly. He turned back to see that Rae had been woken by the sound and was trying to take the mask away from her face.

"Take it off me, take it off." Mark could hear her voice; it was very muffled against the mask and croaky, as Jesse had said. He was trying to calm her down.

"Rae, please, don't, you need it on, just for a few more hours, it'll help you get better." Jesse pleaded with her, as she squirmed on the bed.

"No, no! Steve! No, oh God, No!" Jesse could see that she was getting worked up now, but her hands were pulling more at her throat than the mask and her eyes were wide and full of fear, suddenly he thought he understood.

"Rae, listen to me, it's Jesse, you're in Community General, the scarf has gone, it's not there any more, you're fine honey, you're going to be just fine."

Slowly he moved her hands away from her face and neck, he lay them back down on the bed and raised his own hands just slightly above them, she didn't move them again but her whole body was tense.

"Jesse help me … Jess, I do love you," she was still back there, the unconscious memories so strong that she couldn't break free, her voice was getting fainter again, but the terror was still there in her eyes.

"Rae, can you hear me?" There was no response, so he put his hand gently on her cheek and turned her head slightly towards him. She grimaced, and tried to pull away. "Rae, listen to me, it's Jesse, look at me, I'm right here with you."

Slowly her eyes focused and she looked up to see his face, he could feel her body relax, he was getting through. "Jess," she started to cough, and Mark thought it was time to intervene. 

"Try to give her a little of the ice slivers Jesse, see if that will help with the cough for a while."

He lifted the mask off her face and placed a couple of slivers on her tongue. "Don't crunch them, let them melt in your mouth."

She nodded. She was with them now. The terror had left her for the moment, although Jesse knew it would probably return.

"What happened Jess, why am I here?" her voice was still muffled even without the mask and she placed her hand over her throat. "Why am I so sore?"

"Shhh, I'll tell you all about it again, you need to sleep now, OK? Doctor's orders, mine and Mark's." He didn't think that she even realised that Mark was in the room. She just nodded her head and closed her eyes. He gently placed the mask back on her, and although she stiffened slightly she let him do it without further resistance.

Jesse turned to Mark, "She doesn't remember when she's awake Mark, that's normal isn't it?"

"You know it can be Jesse, amnesia can be a side effect when you've been strangled. It'll come back to her, this is only temporary, and she'll have friends around her when she does remember. Besides it seems that it's only what happened to her that she can't remember, she knew who you were, and Steve."

"I'm going to stay for a while longer, I know she's asleep, but I like to be with her." Mark smiled and nodded, he understood that.  Jesse sat with Rae for about an hour and then he went back down to the ER. He wanted to be with her when she was awake, and he knew he wouldn't be working for the next few days, so he decided to put in a couple of hours while he could. 

"Hey Jesse, how's Rae?" Alex spotted him as he walked along the corridor. "She had us all worried there for a while." The young man smiled at his friend and fell into step beside him.

"She's asleep, she doesn't remember what happened to her, but it'll come back. You know I heard you when you were in with Mark, you sounded good." 

"Thanks. I get off work in about 20 minutes, I thought I'd go up and see her if that's OK with you?" Alex looked a bit embarrassed as he turned to Jesse.

"Of course, as long as you come back down and let me know how she's doing. I'm going to work this shift and then get some sleep, I want to be with her when she wakes tomorrow." Jesse smiled at Alex, hoping to put him at his ease.

"Dr's Travis and Martin to the ER STAT, Dr's Travis and Martin to the ER STAT." The tannoy changed both their plans and the two doctors trotted back into the reception of ER to await their next patients.

Steve walked back down from the private room where Leticia Howard had been placed under police guard. She was still unconscious after surgery to remove the bullet. It hadn't been as serious as it first appeared and she would make a steady recovery. Steve had wanted to instruct the officers to take a dental imprint from her the first opportunity they got. 

"I'll be back in at about 7.00 in the morning, if she hasn't come round before then I'll do it myself. Goodnight fellas." He smiled as he walked back down the corridor, he'd done his fair share of hospital watches in his time, they were deadly dull and he would even prefer to be on a stakeout, at least sometimes you got to watch the world go by.

He spotted his Dad in the Doctor's Lounge just getting ready to go home. He put his head around the door "Hi, you off now?"

"Yeah, done my duty for today, you know I can't believe that I had the weekend off, where does all that leisure time go? Come on, I think it must be your turn to cook!"

"Oh Dad, no, it can't be, oh, yeah I guess it can. Pizza OK?" Mark laughed and they walked out of the hospital together.

A few hours later as Mark and Steve sat out on the deck in the evening sunshine Steve turned to his Dad, he didn't know what to say. They had just finished reading through the diary and both of them were angry, astonished and saddened by what they had read. "I thought there were stringent checks on all teachers, including substitutes. 

"There is Dad, but if there was no connection between the deaths and Leticia Howard nothing would be mentioned on her record. I've asked Mr. Johnson for her references just to see what they say, but the Education Department isn't at fault here." 

"No I suppose not, I guess I'm just looking for a scapegoat. She must be very strong, you know it isn't easy to strangle an adult, even with a ligature."

Steve glanced over at his father, he looked concerned. "Dad, how long will Rae have to stay in the hospital?" 

"Well it depends on the extent of the injuries she sustained, but she can probably be released into, say, Jesse's care by Thursday or Friday, why?"

"Because on Saturday, when I came back for my wallet, Rae stopped me and apologised that she was still at the Beach House and she would find somewhere else as soon as she could. Well, I looked up a few facts on strangulation, and I don't think it would be a good idea for her to move into a place on her own right now."

"No son, I agree with you, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, she's obviously going to be spending quite a bit of time at Jesse's," his eyes gleamed and he smiled, "And I thought we could tell her that she can stay here for, oh I don't know about another month or so, until we know she's OK, you know, mentally." He shrugged, suddenly embarrassed.

"I was thinking the same thing. I also had another idea, for when she comes home," he smiled conspiratorially with his son and led him back inside the house.

Jesse and Alex had been busy in the ER for nearly four hours. Jesse had worked well over the end of his shift, but not by quite as much as Alex. In the end they had both gone up to see Rae together. She was still fast asleep, and Jesse was relieved to see that her breathing was getting deeper and was peaceful and even. He went home that evening feeling far less worried than he had been a few hours before.


	9. 2nd Tuesday

Suffer Little Children

**2nd Tuesday**

Jesse slept well, and stopping only to buy a bunch of red roses, was back at the hospital just before 7.00 am. As he walked in through the entrance he saw Steve a couple of people in front of him. "Hey Steve, wait up!" 

Steve turned as he recognised the voice. "You're bright and early this morning Jesse. Oh, are those for me? You shouldn't have!"

"I didn't, and you're pretty early yourself."

Steve's face grew serious. "I have to take the dental imprint from Ms Howard." He paused, "Y'know I just can't work out the bite marks, there are no sexual overtones to these killings, if you're right and, having read the diary last night, I think you are, Hana was killed out of jealousy, and Terry, well I don't know why she killed him yet, but I intend to find out."

They walked in silence up to Rae's room. She had been moved overnight from the ICU although she still had some machines with her. Steve didn't plan to stay, but he wanted to make sure she was all right. He waited at the door and let Jesse go in by himself.

Jesse sat down in the chair by the bed, put the flowers to one side and laid his hand over Rae's. As she felt him she turned slowly and opened her eyes. "Jess? Is that you?"

"Shhh, hey beautiful, how are you this morning?"

"I feel like I was hit by a truck. Jess, what happened to me? Why don't I remember?" she started to rise off the bed and Jesse put his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh no you don't! You have to stay put at least until Mark has seen you. Oh yeah, talking of Sloans there's somebody else here to see you." Jesse turned and waved to Steve to tell him to come in."

"Good morning Detective, and how are we this morning?" Jesse looked at Steve in surprise, his voice was tight and controlled, not at all as he'd expected.

"Sir?" Even in her weakened state Rae knew she was in trouble. She had no idea why, but she knew.

Steve's fists were clenched by his side, he was surprised himself at how angry he suddenly was, _she could've got herself killed; he bought his feelings under control and tried a small smile._

"How are you feeling Rae?"

"Like I was hit by a truck Sir, didn't I just say that?" she tried a laugh to cover her confusion but it turned into a cough.

"Hey, easy does it." Jesse lifted the mask and spooned some of the ice into her mouth and she managed to catch her breath.

I'll come back and see you in a while, look after yourself." And with that Steve walked out of the room.

"I'll be back in a minute Rae," Jesse followed Steve out. "What was with the Detective business? I thought you wanted to see how she was, not bawl her out like that! I wouldn't have let you see her if I'd known."

Steve had the decency to look sheepish. "I'm sorry Jess, I didn't know I was going to do it either. It was just, when I saw her lying there, she could have been killed Jesse, because she made it personal and didn't follow procedure. I just lost my temper, I'll go back and apologise."

"No Steve, leave her, she doesn't remember yet, if you apologise you may make her remember too quickly. I accept your apology, she'll be fine." He paused, "I'm glad you care enough to get angry." He smiled at his friend. "I'll go back, I'll see you later, let me know how you get on with Ms Howard."

"OK Jesse, and thanks."

Jesse went back into Rae's room. She had her eyes shut so he sat down on the chair. He picked up the roses and looked over at her. "Are they for me?" her voice was muffled under the mask but it sounded a little stronger this morning.

"Of course, who else would I buy red roses for?"

"Thank you, they're beautiful." Her hands went up to the mask, "Please Jesse I hate this thing, can I take it off, please?" she was pulling it away as she was speaking, and as it came away from her face her voice did sound quite a bit stronger.

"Not yet young lady, you had a very close call yesterday, we need to keep it on you." Mark came into the room, and walked over to her.

"Mark, what happened to me? Why does my throat ….?" Her eyes grew wide, "Oh my God!" her hands flew up to where the scarf had been just the day before. "She tried to kill me, I thought she had." She looked at Jesse, "It's true you know, your life does flash before your eyes, and then all I could think was that I hadn't told you I loved you, and I do Jess, I do love you."

Mark was embarrassed to break into this moment, but he had too. He put his hand on Rae's shoulder. "He was there sweetie, he saved your life."

"And Ms Howard, what happened to her?"

"She's fine, she was shot, by Steve, but she'll recover and face trial for what she's done. Now if your young man will leave us, I have some tests I need to do."

"Mark, no, I want to stay."

"Jess, you're not a doctor at the moment, you know you have to leave."

Jesse nodded his head, kissed Rae softly on the cheek and wandered out of the room, he turned and looked back in through the glass and Mark chuckled and waved him away.

"I guess they're called puppy dog eyes?" said Rae faintly; "They don't work on you then?"

"No, they don't. Now you can take the mask off while Jesse, Amanda or I'm in here, but when you're on your own, you must keep it on, is that a fair compromise?"

"Yes Doctor." She gratefully pulled the mask up and off her face. 

Mark listened to her breathing for any signs of damage due to the pressure put on the air passages. Then he gently felt around her throat. He knew that it would be extremely painful, but he had to do it.

Rae took in a short  breath and her whole body went taut. "Sorry Rae, I know that it's very painful, but I have to check." He ran his fingers over the area where the ligature had been, Rae's neck had reddish purplish marks running around it. Then he checked her heart rate; he smiled at her as he removed the stethoscope. "Can you feel this, is it painful? He ran his fingers along her arms and then massaged her fingers. Then he did the same on her legs, but when he reached her feet she squirmed and moved away. "Rae, does that hurt?" He sounded concerned. "I have to check for hypoxia."

"Oh good, I have no idea what that is, but good. No, it doesn't hurt Mark, I'm sorry, I can't bear anyone touching my feet, it tickles."

He moved back up to the head of the bed. "I just need to check on your wound, then I'm done." He gently removed the dressing over the site of Jesse's emergency surgery. "Well, I think that considering you were in the middle of a biology lab at the time, that this is fine. He **is** a very good surgeon after all!"

"I'm sorry Mark I don't understand." Rae tried to sit up in the bed. Mark leant over and changed the settings for her. When she was comfy he sat on the side of the bed. 

"When Steve and Jesse got to the school you were unconscious on the floor, Jesse couldn't get you to breathe, he knew that the paramedics were on their way, but that they might be too late. He performed an emergency Cricothyroidotomy on you. Do you know what that is?"

"Mark, I'm a cop, of course I don't know what that is!"

"How about a tracheotomy?" 

"Yes I know what that is, it's when you have to make an incision into the airways to help someone breathe. That's what he did to me isn't it?"

"Almost, a Cricothyroidotomy is preferable to a tracheotomy because there are no large midline vessels in front of the Cricothyroid ligament so, especially in a situation like you were in, it's the better option."

"I'll take your word for it. Mark is Jesse all right? I can't imagine what it must be like to operate on someone you love." She smiled as she said the last word.

"He is now. We nearly lost you when you got back to Community General. You flat lined in the ER, but everything sounds fine now."

"Why do I still feel so muddle headed then Mark?"

"I won't lie to you Rae, there can be serious psychological repercussions, which are recognised sequelae to this type of injury. But I've arranged for both the ENT and the trauma specialists to come and see you today; they'll assess you as well. I'm confident that the ENT doctor won't find anything, but the trauma specialist, well that's not my field, but I would suggest that you see a counsellor for a while."

"You mean I have to see a therapist, oh great!"

Rae lay back onto the bed, suddenly she felt very tired and tearful. She rubbed her eyes with her hand, "Mark I'm sorry."

"Rae, you've been through a terrible ordeal, you have no need to apologise to anyone. Would you like me to go and get Jesse for you?"

She nodded "Mark, before you do, somebody has to phone my children, let them know that I'm alright. Could it be you? The numbers are on my mobile, or my address book is in my purse. Also George Marlow was devastated because Hana would never see the pom pom he'd bought for her and left in the trunk of his car. Could you or Steve ring him and let him know that Hana had peeked. She knew it was there.

"Of course I'll contact them all, I'll explain everything and let them know that you're going to be alright, he gently placed the mask back over her face, "You'll be on your own remember?" He saw a small smile underneath the breath on the mask and went off in search of his young friend.

Meanwhile, Steve had arrived at the door to Leticia Howard's room. The two officers of last night were still there, they were due to be relieved in about an hour, and from the look of them the night had been as boring as Steve had imagined it would be.

"Morning, how's she been?"

"She slept all night Lieutenant. The only excitement we got was when she was checked every two hours."

"She's conscious though isn't she?" Steve didn't want to wait any longer than he had too to take this imprint. 

"Yeah, the nurse over there," the officer pointed, "Said her doctor would be along in about five minutes and that nobody was to go in until he had seen her."

"Oh right, I'll go and find out what I can then."

Steve walked over to the desk, he recognised the nurse on duty, he couldn't remember her name, but he knew that he'd seen her before. "Good morning Lieutenant, Dr. Marshall will be along in a moment, he'll need to see his patient before he allows you to speak to her, but I guess you already knew that. I don't suppose I'm allowed to ask what she's done?"

"No sorry, you'll find out soon enough." _So will everybody else. I don't know if I could treat her properly if I knew what she'd done, good job I'm a cop and not a doctor. _

As he turned away from the desk he could see a middle aged man walking down the corridor from the other end. He watched as he walked up to the officers on duty at the door, and then strode over to join them. "Dr. Marshall? I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan, I need to know when I will be able to interview my prisoner and take a dental imprint."

"Well, Lieutenant, your prisoner is my patient at the moment, and until I have gone through the tests I need to do this morning, she will see or speak to no one. Is that understood?"

"Yes Doctor, I do understand, but I really need to speak to her as soon as possible."

"Lieutenant, I'm well aware of who she is and what she's done, but that does not change my primary function in this matter, which is to offer her the best care we have available, as a doctor's son and frequent patient here you should understand that better than most policemen."

"Yes Thank You Doctor," _I do not need a lecture in front of my own men, "But I will be waiting outside the door for your prognosis."_

Steve went and picked up a chair. He positioned it so that he could see into the room. "I would be obliged if you would keep the door open at all times Doctor, I have an obligation to carry out **my** primary function as well!"

The doctor could be heard asking general questions about Ms Howard's well-being and seen checking her wound. After about 10 minutes he came out of the room and walked over to Steve.

"She doesn't want to see you, but I explained that as far as I could see there was no medical reason why you couldn't visit with her for a short while. I didn't mention the dental imprint; I felt that was your responsibility. I'll tell the nurse 15 minutes, no longer. Good morning Lieutenant."

Steve got up off the chair, he motioned to one of the officers on the door and they both walked into the room. Leticia Howard was lying back on the pillow; her hair billowed out around her. She looked grey, and about 10 years older than she had yesterday.

"Good morning Ms Howard, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Reasonable I suppose, considering that you shot me yesterday. I may sue."

"I think not ma'am. As I recall I was about to place you under arrest at the time. Now where did I get to?" Steve moved closer to the bed. "Leticia Howard, you are under arrest for the murders of Hana Marlow and Terry Tennant and the attempted murder of Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense. Do you understand your rights as I have read them to you?"

Ms Howard nodded her head. "I need to hear you ma'am, Do you understand your rights as I have read them to you?"

"Yes Lieutenant, I understand and I won't talk to you until I have an attorney present, I do have my own one by the way, I trust I'll still get my one phone call to contact him?"

"Of course, I'll go and get you a phone to use now, I would like to get this underway as soon as I can."

Steve and the officer left the room. Steve walked over to the desk. "Ms Howard would like a phone please nurse. Can that be arranged?"

"Of course Lieutenant, I'll organise it straight away."

Five minutes later, Steve returned to the room. "Did you get in touch with your lawyer Ms Howard?" 

She nodded. "Yes, he'll be here in about 1½ hours. I have nothing to say until then." She shut her eyes and turned her head away.

Steve left the room. He'd decided to wait until her lawyer had arrived to take the dental imprint, he didn't want it being thrown out of court, although he felt they had a pretty watertight case, the dental imprint would seal it shut. He walked back towards the elevator, it was time to go and apologise to Rae.

She was awake when he got there, she turned to see who it was and gave a little smile. She took off the mask _OK so he wasn't mentioned, but he counts, _she looked a little uncertain about what would happen next.

"Where's Jesse?" asked Steve, he had been sure that his friend would be here as well. 

"They had an emergency down in the ER, an 11 car pile up or something, I told him to go, that I needed some time on my own to think."

"Oh, do you want me to go too?"

"No Sir, I don't, you were part of what I was thinking about. I've remembered what happened to me, I'm sorry Sir, I let you down, if you'd gone in there on your own I would've been angry too."

"Rae," his voice was soft this time. "You could've been killed. What were you thinking going over there on your own?"

"I hadn't planned to do so. I got caught in traffic, and as I sat there, reading the diary through again, I got so angry that I turned off the motorway, sorry freeway, as soon as I could and headed towards the school."

"Rae, Jesse told me why this was so personal to you. You should have said."

"I couldn't, I didn't want you take me off the case, I couldn't have coped with that. I needed to help solve it."

"You did solve it Rae, remember? You knew it was her before anybody else."

"Except your father!"

"Yeah well, he doesn't count, he's always doing that to me! What happened when you got there?"

Rae started to explain to Steve how she had confronted Ms Howard and how she'd admitted that she'd killed both Hana and Terry. How Terry had been killed out of necessity and Hana out of jealousy. As she got to the part when she had felt the scarf go around her neck her voice began to break.

"Hey, slow down partner, it's OK. You don't need to go there yet, I arrived just after that. You were already unconscious on the floor, I had to shoot Ms Howard and I dread to think what would've happened if Jesse hadn't been there, I couldn't have done what he did. I've done it before, but to a friend, I don't know."

Rae smiled. She put her hand out. "I'm sorry Sir, I hope I won't get you into trouble because of what I did."

"I doubt that Detective, he can get into trouble all by himself!"

"Sir!" Rae tried to sit up straighter in the bed as she saw the Chief come in through the door.

"Sir!" Steve stood up straight.

"At ease, both of you, Detective, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Better Sir, thank you. As long as I don't touch my throat or swallow too much I'm fine."

"Lieutenant Sloan, would you excuse us for a moment."

"No, Sir, I think I should stay, she's my responsibility and a special case, as you did say before."

"Sloan!" 

"I'll be just outside the door, if you need me."

Rae put the mask back up on her face, _I think I'll just hide behind here for a while_.

"Do you still need that Detective?"

She took it off and put it down again. "I'm supposed to keep it on when there's no Doctor in here,"

"Oh and Sloan is a doctor now is he? Detective, you very nearly got yourself killed yesterday, and I can't afford to lose good officers." He almost smiled at her and then carried on. "If you're going to stay on my squad, I expect you to carry out procedure, is that clear? I know you can't go everywhere in a pair, that would be unrealistic, but when you're going to interview a suspect you shouldn't go alone. We need no slip ups that could jeopardise a case. You know that don't you?"

"Yes Sir."

"However, you're lucky, she tried to kill you and we have two witnesses to that! I've signed you off for two weeks Detective, I will expect you back then, recovered and ready to continue with your assignment here in LA, - properly."

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir."

The Chief left the room and as Rae sunk back onto the pillow Steve re-entered. She had to admit that hadn't been as bad as she had thought. She had also not thought that he would come to see her in hospital, so it was over quicker too, but he was right, she had let everybody down, and nearly got herself killed. What would her children have done then? Her breath was becoming ragged, she moved her hand to put the mask back on, but she couldn't find it! Her breath was short and laboured now, she started to panic.

"Are you OK Rae, do you want me to get Dad?" Steve looked concerned.

"Mask … need … mask." She managed to gasp. Steve couldn't see it as he looked around so he leant over and pressed the button and a nurse came into the room.

"Get Dr. Sloan up here now nurse!"

"Yes Sir!"

Finally he  saw where it had slipped down off the bed. He picked it up and put it around her head. She took some deeper breaths and he could see her concentrating on trying to get her breathing under control. She didn't seem to be succeeding quick enough for his liking 

 "Steve … ," she couldn't continue, and as he looked around with concern, he saw his father enter the room.

"Rae, Rae, listen to me and concentrate on my voice." Mark took control as soon as he saw the situation. "Slowly in … then out again … in … out again …" Steve could see that it had started to have an effect almost immediately. He felt a great pride in what his father was able to accomplish so easily. 

"Dad, what happened?" He asked when she was resting easily again. "The Chief came to see her, and then after he left she seemed to have trouble breathing.

"She had a panic attack son. It's not surprising, she may have more of them, that's why the mask is still there."

"I couldn't find it, I needed it and I couldn't find it." Rae's voice was tremulous and they could see tears unshed in her eyes.

"It's alright Rae, it's over. Relax, keep concentrating on your breathing, you'll be fine now."

Jesse came rushing into the room. "Mark, what happened?" Steve stood up and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Jesse, come out with me, I'll explain." Mark could see Steve and Jesse outside the door, the taller man still had his hand on his friend's shoulder. 

Mark hand rested gently on Rae's shoulder, "He's fine too, sweetheart. Go off to sleep, I'm sure that you'll find that he's sitting right here with you when you wake up." She nodded, her eyes were shut, and her breathing was almost back to normal. By the time Mark had walked over to where Steve and Jesse stood, she was already half asleep.

It was almost lunch time before Rae awoke again. As Mark had guessed Jesse was sitting right there waiting for her. "Hey stranger, how you feeling now?"

"Give me a minute to work that out OK?" She smiled at him. She lifted the mask off her face, let it lie on the pillow beside her and put her hand up to her throat. She ran her hand over it and Jesse saw her face contort in pain. "Why does it hurt so much Jess, would the children have felt this much pain?"

"No, no they wouldn't, they would have passed out, just as you did. You know what they went through, there was no more than that."

"Apart from the fear," Rae turned away, tears slid down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Jess, I don't want to be like this."

"Rae, don't underestimate what you've been through, you may be like this for quite a while." There was a knock on the door.  

"Excuse me, Detective Inspector Yeager?" Rae nodded. "I'm Dr. Dobson, I think Dr. Sloan said I would be coming to see you? Dr. Travis how are you?"

"I'm fine." Jesse got up out of the chair, but made no move to leave the room. He saw Rae brush away the tears and try to look far more cheerful than she really felt.

"I didn't realise you were involved in Detective Inspector Yeager's case Doctor."

"I'm not, Reagan's my girlfriend." Rae grimaced, she hadn't heard Jesse call her by her full name since the day they'd met.

"Well you can understand that for the moment I would like you to leave." 

"Please Doctor, just today can he stay? I'm so mixed up about how I feel right now, I would like him to hear."

"It is not normal Detective Insp… Rae put her hand up.

"Please Doctor, either Detective, or Rae, but not the full works, otherwise we'll lose half the consultation period everytime you mention my name!"

"Well, you can either call me Doctor or Brian." He smiled at her and took a pad out of the bag he had carried in with him.

"I just want to ask you a few questions myself, and hopefully answer a few of yours, and then we can get down to specifics next time. I realise that you'll be discharged in a few days, but I'll need you to come back in to see me at least for a few weeks. Is that OK with you?"

"Yes, thank you doctor. What did you want to know about me?"

"Well, lets see, I have your birth details, employment and living arrangements, I see you are living with Dr. Sloan and his son at the moment."

Rae nodded. "Yes, but it's only temporary, I intend to find something for myself as soon as I can."

"How long have you been in America Detective?"

Rae blushed. "10 days Doctor, I arrived not last Saturday, but the one before that."

"Why do you blush, what is embarassing about that?"

"Well, it didn't take me long to end up in the hospital did it? In fact this is the second time since I arrived."

"You have a very dangerous job, but I would agree that does seem a little excessive. Are you married Detective?"

"No, I'm divorced, have been for just over 2 years. I have three children between 18 and 9, they're in England with their Dad."

"Does that bother you?"

"It did, but since I've been lying here, I've realised that they're much safer and happier where they are, I miss them but no it doesn't bother me, much."

"Good. Now what questions did you want to ask me Detective?"

"I know that the attack only happened yesterday, but how long will I feel like bursting into tears all the time?"

"At the moment it's quite normal and you should let it happen. I saw you were crying when I entered, but you tried to hide it why?"

"Doctor, I've been involved in a very harrowing murder case, I seem to have done nothing but try to come to terms with my feelings since it started. Jesse has seen me cry, but nobody else has, I would like it to stay that way."

Jesse went to move forward but was stopped by a wave from Dr. Dobson. "If you keep the tears inside you, I have no doubt that you'll make yourself ill. I'm not suggesting that you roam around the place weeping and tearing your clothing, but you have to let the feelings out!"

"I will Doctor, to Jesse, I promise."

"What else can I help you with?"

"I had a panic attack this morning, and when you mentioned that I would be going home soon I felt my chest constrict, is that normal?"

"Yes. Why did you panic?"

"Because my thoughts made my breathing a bit difficult and then I couldn't find the mask and that made me panic even more."

"Right, did the mask solve the problem?"

"Yes it did, along with Mark talking me through my breathing."

"OK that's fine then. The second thing you mentioned, about your chest constricting? Well that's because today you aren't ready to go home, but maybe tomorrow or Friday you will be. Trust me Detective, you'll know when you're ready. In fact you will probably think you're ready before we do!"

Rae smiled up at him. She thought she could get on with this man. _Therapy, I wonder what my Dad would say about this._ She didn't realise that her smile had got wider as she thought about her Dad.

"What are you thinking about Detective, it made you smile." Dr. Dobson was smiling too.

"Nothing, just my Dad, maybe I'll tell you another time."

Brian Dobson rose out of the chair and shook Rae by the hand. "I'll come back tomorrow at 1.00 pm and we can discuss the thoughts that bought about your panic attack, amongst other things. I'll stay for an hour then if that's convenient for you?"

"Oh, I have a feeling I'll be here, Doctor, and thank you."

"Doctor Travis, if I may have a word with you outside?"

They saw Rae put her mask back on, as they left the room, just as Mark had insisted. "You contained yourself well there Doctor." He put his hand up again as Jesse was about to speak. "I think I know what you're going to ask, I think she'll be fine, she's level headed and obviously intelligent. She'll need you Doctor, there's no doubt about that, but she **will** get through this. She knows that the case is solved, she solved it herself from what I hear, that will help her too. Now go back in and just be with her. I have heard good things about you Dr. Travis, she's in good hands."

"Thank you Dr. Dobson, and thank you for letting me stay."

"You're welcome, but make yourself scarce tomorrow at 1.00 OK?"

Rae was peering around the side of the bed when Jesse re-entered the room. "Rae, what **are** you doing?"

Her voice was muffled by the mask and the fact that most of her face was hidden from sight. "I'm looking for the button to raise this bed."

"Lay back down, you need a doctor for this type of thing!"

Soon Rae was sitting up properly the hated mask removed once again and Jesse was perched on the side of the bed. "That didn't seem to go too badly did it? He seems like a nice guy. I think I'll be able to talk to him."

"What made you smile Rae?"

"I was thinking about my Dad, me having therapy, he would be, I don't know humourously dismissive I guess."

Mark chose that moment to walk into the room. "Rae, how're you feeling?" 

"Much better, in fact I'm getting better by the minute, I feel much stronger than I did this morning and I think my voice sounds better too, what do you think?"

"I agree. Listen, Steve is about to question Leticia Howard, her lawyer got held up this morning and has only just arrived, he wondered if you would be strong enough to attend. I have to say I was doubtful, but I will leave the decision up to you."

"Yes please Mark, I need to see this through!" Mark waved his hand and Steve came in with a wheelchair.

"Oh no Mark, I don't have to do I?"

"Rae, you haven't got out of bed since it happened, you may well feel dizzy when you stand up, we'll give you a few minutes to get re-orientated and then see what we think."

Jesse and Mark left the room and Steve moved over to the bed. "Detective," but this time there was a smile in his voice and Rae knew she was OK.

"Lieutenant, could you give me a hand please?" Steve pulled the covers back and Rae swung her legs over the side of the bed. She paused and caught her breath, and then Steve gently helped her into the chair. "Whoo, I see what he meant." Rae put her hand to her forehead, she looked a little pale.

"Rae? You don't have to do this, maybe it was a bad idea."

"Oh no, you're not backing out on me now Lieutenant. I'll be fine just give me a minute. Could you let me have a little of that water please?

Steve passed her a glass, he could see the colour returning to her face. He had to admit she looked a lot better than she had just this morning. "Right full speed ahead. Actually, no not yet, what's happened so far?"

"I saw her about 7.30 this morning, she wasn't exactly full of the joys of spring. In fact she threatened to sue me for shooting her, I placed her under arrest – two murders and one attempted, and I've been waiting the arrival of her lawyer ever since."

"Right," Rae took a deep breath, coughed and ran her fingers through her hair. Steve pushed her over to where Jesse and Mark were waiting, and they saw Amanda walking down the corridor to meet them.

"Rae, you're looking better than the last time I saw you! But wher're you going? I was just coming for a coffee and a chat"

"I'm sorry Amanda but Steve is about to interview Ms Howard, and I plan on being there." She looked over at the three doctors, who were now standing together. "Jesse, could you come and wait outside please, just in case,?"

"I was going to anyway, so yeah try and stop me."

"Are you OK without your mask sweetie?" Mark looked over at her. 

"Yes, I'm fine, honestly. I have to do this, but I'm not being silly, I'll be all right."

"You heard the lady, come on Jesse, let's go, we can't keep the good lawyer waiting, even if he has mucked up my whole day!" Steve pushed Rae along the corridor and she took another slightly deep breath, it still hurt to breathe, but it felt good to be out of her room, _I guess Dr. Dobson's right, I will know when I can do something_. 

Rae put her hand up as they got nearer the door. "Wait a minute Steve, would you?" She felt Jesse's hand on her arm.

"Are you OK honey?"

"Yeah, it's just that, well she tried to kill me yesterday! I feel a bit I don't know … scared I suppose."

"That's natural, but you're not alone this time, Steve and I are here, not quite the cavalry, but almost as good. He leant over and kissed Rae on the lips. She looked deep into his eyes and said, "Right Steve, lets do this."

Jesse held the door open for the wheelchair, and then said "I'll be right outside if you need me."

The lawyer stood up and held his hand out to Steve. "I'm sorry to have put you about this morning Lieutenant, I'm afraid it couldn't be helped."

"That's alright councillor, it meant that my partner was sufficently recovered to join us. May I introduce Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager."

Rae held her hand out for the lawyer to shake it. Then she sat quietly in her chair and let Steve take the lead.

"I have placed your client under arrest for the murders of Hana Marlow and Terry Tennant and the attempted murder of Detective Inspector Yeager." He glanced over at Rae, "I have a few questions to ask her if you don't mind and also I need to take a dental imprint from her."

"Why is that Lieutenant?"

"Because the children both had bite marks on them. We need the imprint for identification or elimination purposes."

"I have no problem with that Lieutenant, I was telling my lawyer just before you came in that I will be pleading guilty."

Rae let out a gasp, she felt the room swim round, as a sudden rush of relief threatened to overwhelm her. She put her head down and then Jesse and Steve were by her side. "Rae, honey, are you OK?"

"Rae looked up "Please take me outside for a moment Jesse." She looked round. "Excuse me Sir, I won't be long." Steve nodded as Jesse pushed her out.

"Are you alright Rae, do you want me to take you back to your room?" 

"No Jess, it was just, did you hear what she said?"

"No, I shut the door, I didn't want anybody to say that the procedure had been compromised in any way."

"She's going to plead guilty Jesse, it's over. It's all over." She took a deep breath. Jesse handed her the bottle of water he'd bought along just in case and she took a long drink, she grimaced as the water went down, but then smiled at Jesse. "Thank you, I'll go back inside now if you don't mind."

Jesse opened the door and wheeled her back in. Steve looked up, he could see that she was back in control of her emotions. "I'm sorry for the distraction gentlemen, I hope you continued without me."

"I took the imprint while you were, er temporarily indisposed and I was just about to ask Ms Howard about the bite marks, and why she left them on the children's bodies."

"Because I wanted you to think that they were killed by someone with a sexual motive."

"Why have you decided to plead guilty Ms Howard, don't get me wrong we would have got a conviction, I'm just curious." It was the first time that Rae had spoken directly to the woman who had almost ended her life 24 hours ago.

"I just ran out of energy Detective, after I came too in the hospital I realised that I couldn't run anymore, there was no place left to go. So I will plead guilty. I have nothing further to say." With that Leticia Howard turned her head away from the two Detectives and closed her eyes.

Her lawyer got up from his seat. He walked out with Steve and Rae, "I guess I'll see you in court councillor." Steve shook him by the hand once more and he was gone, back into the room with his client.

All the emotion of the past 24 hours threatened to engulf her. "I need to get back to my room Jesse, now." He took the chair from Steve, and pushed her quickly down the corridor. He could see her shoulders heaving, as soon as they entered the room he shut the door and moved around to the front of the chair. She flung herself out of it and into his arms then all pretention of being alright forgotten, she sobbed. She could hear Jesse's voice gentle in her ear and his hand tender on her hair. She cried and cried until she too had no energy left. Steve put his head around the door and Jesse smiled and he left as quietly as he had arrived. Rae had no idea he had even been there. Jesse picked her up eventually and placed her on the bed.

"Rae, I'm going to put the mask on you, it'll help you calm down, OK honey?" She just nodded.

"I love you Jesse Travis, thank you." She smiled at him and closed her eyes. She felt the mask being placed gently on her face and his hand over her own then she let sleep overpower her.


	10. 2nd Wednesday and Thursday

**Suffer Little Children******

**2nd Wednesday**

Steve sat at his desk going over the statement he had taken from Leticia Howard. It was short and concise. He'd gone back into her room after he'd left Rae the previous day and asked her lawyer to convince her to give a proper statement there and then. Martin Robertson had been on duty outside the room and had come in as well. It hadn't taken very long. She had admitted to killing Hana Marlow because the child had annoyed her and made her realise her own limitations and Terry Tennant because he'd seen what she'd done and she was protecting herself. She also admitted that she had intended to kill Rae and felt no remorse for her actions. On being pressed by Steve she said that she'd killed three other children in the past five years.

Steve pushed the piece of paper around his desk. He felt a sense of closure, that they'd done a good job, but two children had died and he'd almost lost his partner, so the satisfaction was muted. He shook himself. He needed some time to think. He filed the statement away in the manilla folder that contained all the other original documents and left the station.

By the time Mark arrived home from the hospital Steve was 2 miles up the beach. He had pounded the first mile and then he'd slowed right down. Now he was ready to race the whole distance home again. 

Mark came out on the deck, he could see a runner further up the beach. He smiled and turned the telescope in that direction. Yep, it was Steve, letting all his frustrations and anger out on the sand. He went back into the house and made some iced tea. He guessed that life would soon start to get back to normal.

Rae sat up in bed, all the machines had been removed. She'd had a good session with Dr. Dobson. It had never occurred to her that Leticia Howard would plead guilty, and she couldn't believe the difference it had made to her. Instead of discussing her fears about having to face the woman in court, and how she feared the experience would effect the Marlows and the Tennants she was able to talk about herself and how she saw the healing process going. Dr. Dobson was able to talk her through the different stages she would encounter and how best to deal with them. The session had finished with her feeling positive and confident about her future.

She looked over at the beautiful bouquet of flowers on the table at the end of her bed. When she'd woken up yesterday evening they'd been laying on the chair next to her. The card simply said "Thank you for honouring the memory of our daughter." Rae knew that she would put that away with the carnation from her Dad and one of the red roses from Jesse. Special things to bring back memories good and bad.

"Hey, how y'doin?" Jesse came bouncing into the room. 

"Jesse I want to go home, please,"

"Mark isn't here, maybe he'll discharge you in the morning, have you finished that book yet? I thought you said you were a quick study!" There was a discreet tap on the window and Rae looked over to see Amanda standing there.

She smiled and her friend entered the room. "How're you feeling, you look almost back to your old self, even though your old self was a new self to us, if you see what I mean!"

"You know I thought I was feeling fine until you started to talk! You've been spending too much time with Jesse!"

"Hey, I'm still in the room y'know!"

"I want to go home! I want to go shopping with you! We were supposed to be doing that tomorrow, how about next week instead? I'm signed off until a week next Tuesday so we should have plenty of time for some serious retail therapy."

"I'll look forward to it, and I know this wonderful little place for lunch."

"It doesn't do ribs does it? Only I always seem to end up serving when I go there." The smile reached Rae's eyes. _I'm ready to  go home, it doesn't frighten me any more._

"No much more classy, clean glasses, new napkins on the tables, you know the type of place, no gun under the cash register!"

"Guys, I am **still** in the room!"

Rae blew him a kiss, and he caught it. "I guess I'll leave you ladies to your chatting. Rae I'll be in ER if you need me," he leant over and gave her a real kiss and then he did as he said he would and headed towards the elevator.

A couple of hours later Rae sat in bed, she had just eaten her tea, _I use the term loosely, how can Steve like this stuff? _and was half way through the detective novel that Jesse had given her that morning. _A bit of a busman's holiday but it passes the time._

The day had been just what the doctor had ordered, she'd rested almost all day. There had been the visit from Amanda and one from Alex, and Jesse had been in and out all day. She hadn't seen Steve but then she hadn't expected to. She snuggled down under the covers, turned onto her side and opened her book. _I will be all right, not completely alright today or tomorrow, but I will be fine again soon._

Jesse walked into her room at the end of his shift and found her fast asleep on her side, the book still in her hand. He gently took it from her and placed it on the night stand. Then he kissed the top of her head and headed home. Tomorrow he thought, tomorrow I can take her with me.

**2nd Thursday**

It was pouring with rain on Thursday morning, a day for ducks, staying inside and finishing your book. By the time Dr. Dobson came to see Rae at 1.00 pm she had two out of three with no chance for a full house. _Oh for goodness sake girl, pull yourself together._ She had a feeling that the euphoria she was feeling was as much a symptom of what had happened to her as any depression she might feel. 

"You look happier this morning Detective, how are you really feeling?"

"I think I'm feeling too good Doctor." She explained her theory to him and was gratified to see him nod. Rae was out of bed now and dressed in her own clothes. It felt good to be able to have a rational conversation with this pleasant Doctor.

"Very perceptive. I'm not concerned about your state of mind at all. I think you'll get over this completely, but it will take time, you'll find that it will come back to you when you least expect it. Be prepared and you'll survive."

They talked over Rae's hopes and fears for about ¾ of an hour and then Dr. Dobson stood up. "I don't think I need to see you again until next Friday Detective. It will almost be time for you to return to work by then, so it'll be important for us to analyse how you're feeling. However, if in the meantime you need to see me, phone my secretary and she'll arrange an appointment for you. I hope the rest of your stay in LA is safer, happier and as successful for you."

Rae stood up and shook Dr. Dobson by the hand. "Thank you Doctor, you've helped me a great deal over the last few days. I think I would've felt very isolated if you hadn't helped me understand my feelings so well."

"It's my job, but it was my pleasure also. Goodbye Detective."

As Dr. Dobson walked through the door Rae could see Mark waiting to enter. She smiled at him "Please say you've come to discharge me, please, please, please!"

"Hold on a minute. I need to check you over again, but if you're still improving the way you were yesterday, I see no problem about releasing you into Jesse's care."

Rae lay down on the bed and looked up at this man who had become a close friend so easily. She flinched as he ran his fingers around her throat. "It'll be sore for a while longer I am afraid, but it is progressing as I would expect. He checked the wound, "That bandage can come off after the weekend OK?" She nodded. "You'll always have a little scar there,"

"I know, but it's better than the alternative." She smiled again. Mark checked her arms and fingers and her legs, he tickled her feet and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yes, Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, you can go home, right now if you like. I'm just finishing my shift, I'll drive you myself."

Rae smiled at him. "Mark, you don't have to do that, I can wait for Jesse, besides I need to get some papers that have property to rent in them, I can't live in your spare room for ever."

"No you can't, but for the next month at least you can. I want to keep an eye on you Rae, I'm sure that you'll be fine, but I insist, another month at the Beach House. Doctors orders."

She got up off the bed and gave Mark a hug and a kiss. "Thank you so much my friend. I don't know what else to say."

"Hey, anybody for the first train outta here?" Jesse came into the room with a wheelchair, it had three balloons attached to each arm rest and a pink cushion on the seat. 

Rae laughed and sat down on it. She picked up the bag that she'd had packed since Wednesday lunch time and took a deep breath. _Home, and for the next month, it really will be home_. Mark picked up her flowers and Jesse turned her around and they headed for the exit.

There was a Welcome Home banner stretched across the door when Rae walked up to it. Balloons and streamers hung down from it. When she walked inside Amanda and Alex were waiting for her along with CJ and Dion. "Oh Mark, thank you." The tears sprang to her eyes she tried to scrub them away and force a smile but it was hard. 

Steve put a hand on her arm. "Rae, come on, this is for you, not just because you're home, but because you solved the case, and lived to tell the tale!"

"I know, it's just that well, I wish my children were here too you know? I do appreciate it, I really do."

"Rae honey, I wish we could have got your children here for you, but we couldn't." Mark smiled at her, "However, we can do the next best thing. Amanda and Alex moved away from where they had been standing. Rae could see something on the computer screen. Then she heard a voice.

"Mummy, over here, look I can see you, can you see me?"

"Mara, is that you? Oh my goodness. Oh Mark thank you, Steve, Jess everyone, this is just… wonderful."

"You can talk for as long as you want, sweetie, we'll be out on the deck when you finish." Her five friends went past to leave her with her children. As he got close to her, Rae grabbed Jesse by the arm. 

"Stay." She whispered.

"Mara, are both your brothers there darling?"

"No Mummy, John has a date and he isn't back yet, but Patrick's here." The face of a smiling young man appeared on the screen.

"Mum, are you alright? Dr. Sloan phoned us and kept us informed on how you were, you really need to be careful, John was really cross with you, he wanted to jump on the next plane over so he could be with you."

"Patrick I'm fine, honestly. I'm not due back to work until a week Tuesday, so who knows perhaps we can use this minicam again. Listen Patrick, Mara, there's someone I want to introduce you to. This is Jesse, he's very special to me, I wanted you to meet him."

"Hey guys, I'm real pleased to see you, your Mom has told me lots of things about you. She loves you a lot you know, and misses you."

"We miss you too Mum, can you come visit us soon?" it was Mara who was talking now. Jesse could see how like Hana Marlow she was, he tightened his hold on Rae's hand.

"I don't know darling, I'll work out some leave with my boss when I go back to work, perhaps you could come here when I've got a place of my own, what do you think?"

"Oh Mummy that would be wonderful."

Jesse touched Rae's hand and then he left her to talk privately with her children.

About 20 minutes later the screen went blank, but instead of feeling disappointed Rae felt great. She walked out onto the deck. "That was wonderful, thank you Mark, thank you so much."

"How do you know it wasn't my idea?" Steve said with a smile.

"Or mine?" Jesse put in.

"Because I know you all, I feel I have known you all my life, that's the kind of thing that Mark would do." She reached down and picked up the glass of soda that was sitting on the table. "I would like to make a toast. To friends. I can't believe that I have forged such strong ties with you all so quickly, but I'm so glad that I have. Thank you for letting me into your lives and your hearts." She leant over kissed Jesse and then she took a drink. "It's good to be home!"

The End


End file.
